It's Just A Game!
by Skylar Light
Summary: RS. AU. "Do you think it's safe? We just find this random box in the sand after you tripped over it, it's dirty and old, it must have been washed up from the shore from who knows where, and now you're just going to open it?" Based off of Jumanji.
1. Curiosity Killed The Cat

This is my first story on my new fanfiction account and I have to say this was inspired mostly by Jumanji. I absolutely love that movie. So here's the Kingdom Hearts version of it! Of course, there will be some stuff I will be changing. This story will contain boyxboy love mainly focusing on the pairing Riku/Sora. That will probably be the only one. And well I'll just let you continue the story now. Leave me a review and tell me what you think! Whether it be flames, criticism, etc. I do like it when people analyze my stories and maybe a few critiques here and there. Anyway, read on readers!

**Track 01:**

_Let Go- Frou Frou_

* * *

><p><em>drink up baby doll<em>

_mmm, are you in or are you out?_

The seagulls flying about in the air squawked above loudly. The fresh water breeze flew at curtains, the ocean waves lapping upon the shore. Destiny Islands was one of the most beautiful places in the world where people loved sunbathing on the beaches and breathing in that refreshing ocean air. The sun shone brightly through the clear windows and seeping onto the bed of a teenage boy. Said boy covered his face with more of his blanket, groaning loudly, at the bright orange light that heated up his face.

Some of the birds flew right onto the windowsill and screeched loudly repeatedly. The boy groaned in frustration.

"Nngh, will you shut up!"

Well, there were many who didn't exactly favor the tropical islands. Brown spiky hair peeked through the blankets as one hand opened the window. The young sixteen year old teen sat up and shooed the birds away from his window, obviously irritated at the unwanted alarm clock.

"Bothersome birds…"

He didn't exactly recall having fond memories of the bird inhabitants of Destiny Islands. The aggravated teenage boy quickly dove under the covers and resumed his much needed rest. Summer had made the brunet lazy beyond belief. It was even hotter outside than before and really now all he wanted to do was sleep the whole summer away. Of course, that's how he would've liked to spend it would've went if not for a few minor disturbances in his plans. A few knocks made the brunet peek an eye out but he quickly dove under the covers as the door opened and a pretty brunette woman peeked in.

"Sora? Are you still asleep? Get up already, it's already noontime!" she chastised.

Sora didn't move and even proceeded to snore obnoxiously loud.

"Young man, if you don't get up right this instant…"

Sora rolled over and groaned in response. The woman placed her hands on her hips and stopped to think about what to give as punishment.

"I'll make you paint the fence!"

"I'll mess it up," Sora said back, nestling further into the soft bed.

"I'll...take away your...key collection?"

"You can try. I always know where you hide them."

"Um...I'll take away your stash of sweets!"

"Eh, I needed to cut back anyway."

"No seeing Riku or Kairi this whole week!"

Silence.

That must've done it. Sora's mom grinned in triumph as her son finally sat up and threw the covers off his body in aggravation and defeat. She knew how much of a sore loser her son was and laughed to herself as she went back downstairs to fix breakfast. Sora knew Riku and Kairi would find some crazy way to hang out with him anyway, but he was never quite sure with his mom. She would go to pretty extreme measures to make sure he learnt his lesson.

Such as the one time she locked him out of the house after coming home early to see Sora had snuck out to go to a party. And that one time she took away his bed because he didn't fix it up every time she asked. Sora didn't tend to disobey his mom often but seriously, who makes their bed anymore? It wasn't like anybody was going to complain about it.

Sora yawned and stretched his tired limbs. He didn't want to tell his mom that he had been waking up late only because he had slept at 4 in the morning reading storybooks. Sora couldn't help it. He loved the idea of the knights fighting dragons to save the princess or the idea of going underwater to sing with the mermaids. The stories seem a lot more interesting than the boring old islands where you do the same thing every day.

Sora made his bed quickly and was about to take his shower but stopped before he walked into the bathroom. He noticed something odd about this particular morning.

Such as a certain someone coming to wake him up before his mom did. That person would always come in before he took his shower and then would quietly wait for him in the living room so that they could both head down to the beach.

Sora frowned.

Where was Riku?

Sora took off his undershirt and threw it somewhere in the corner of the room as he searched his closet for something to wear. He grabbed a navy blue loose shirt and beige shorts and quickly put them on as he ran down the stairs for breakfast.

"Did Riku come here by any chance?" Sora asked, stuffing a piece of toast in his mouth and grabbed the plate with the rest of his breakfast. His mom turned around and smiled.

"He did actually. Around nine I believe but he left because he wanted you to rest up more. Such a sweet boy. Though I think you need a little bit _less_ rest..."

Sora chose to ignore that last part, instead choosing to frown and look down at his plate of breakfast, picking it idly in embarrassment.

Riku had been treating him nicer and nicer these days.

Sure there was still the initial teasing but it was a bit off.

Before they could go on for hours but Riku let Sora win most of their arguments and jests. And the older male would always offer his ice cream cone when Sora finished his and wanted more. Riku _never _let him eat his ice cream before. He wasn't complaining or anything but it was strange and different.

"You should be more like him. Good manners, charming, hardworking, has a great sense of humor..."

"I'fe goft pwenty ovr those," Sora attempted to say around a mouthful of food. The mother was about to scold him for talking with his mouth open but Sora already finished and quickly placed his plate in the sink and started on his way to Riku's house with a 'bye mom!' His mom shook her head and smiled, amused, and started on the dishes.

_leave your things behind_

_'cause it's all going off without you_

Jumping up on the porch step, Sora rang the doorbell and waited patiently.

The door opened to a short silver haired woman with bright green eyes.

"Oh Sora, how good to see you! Come in, come in. My, how much you've grown! Riku was just about to head over to your place. He's upstairs dressing up. Please, please, come in," she said, almost all in one sentence. Sora didn't bother telling her in saying he only just saw her earlier this week. Instead he just smiled politely and nodded, following her inside and waited for his friend on the couch.

The T.V. was on with some kid show about how to count numbers and some random celebrity guest starring in them. Sora was too lazy to reach for the remote so he just sat there laughing from time to time as he waited for Riku. What was taking him so long?

...

"You could change the channel you know but judging by your random fits of laughter, I think you're enjoying this far too much."

"..!" Sora nearly jumped three feet in the air. He looked up and saw Riku leaning over him on the couch.

"Damn it, Riku. You nearly gave me a heart attack," Sora said, standing up and facing his friend.

"Didn't know you scared that easily," Riku said, smiling. Sora picked up on something else now too. Riku smiled a lot more. Before, his friend usually just smirked at him in a mocking way.

"Well, I was paying attention to Bob and his numbers. Counting is so much fun, don't you think?" Sora said smiling back. "You wanna just go back to my place? It's too hot to do anything on the main island."

"Yeah sure."

As they were walking, Riku noticed Sora was oddly quiet this particular morning.

"You're awfully quiet. Usually you can't keep your mouth shut," Riku joked, flicking Sora's nose and snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Just thinking, that's all. You think we should've asked Kairi to come?" Sora asked, rubbing his nose.

"She's probably still asleep. You both are the laziest people I know," he joked.

"Hey, I work out way more than she does!" the brunet said defensively, lifting up his shirt with both hands to show off his barely noticeable abs. "Well they're not as nice as yours yet but I bet by the end of the summer…uh Riku?"

Sora dropped his shirt when he noticed his friend looking really red. Why was he staring so intently at the place where he lifted his shirt?

"Aw it didn't look that pathetic did it?" Sora joked, trying to ease the awkwardness that unknowingly crept upon the two. Riku didn't answer and Sora was feeling even more uncomfortable under his gaze. "Riku?"

"Um…sorry. I'm a bit tired so my brain isn't functioning well," Riku said, turning away.

"Oh." Sora paused and looked at his friend worriedly but decided to let it go. "Anyway...what I was thinking about earlier..." This perked Riku's interest. "After senior year, I want to leave the islands."

It was quiet after that. Sora was about to ask what was wrong but Riku spoke up.

"Leave the islands? Why would you want to do that?" Sora was taken aback by Riku's angry tone. He glanced at his friend and noticed his companion had a scowl on his face, marring his pretty features.

"I mean this place is so boring. Didn't you ever wonder what could possibly be out there?"

"You're serious about leaving?" Riku asked, halting to a complete stop.

"This place is too small for me. I need to extend my roots, spread my wings. All that jazz," Sora continued, not realizing Riku had stopped walking alongside him. When he didn't hear footsteps beside him, he turned around and tilted his head in confusion as to why his friend was staring so intently at the sand beneath him. "Riku?"

His friend looked up at him with such a sad expression, Sora almost felt compelled to say sorry. For what reason, he didn't even know. He just wanted Riku to stop looking at him like that. Was he upset with what he said?

"You're going to leave? Is that it? You're going to be leaving your family! Your home! What about the university we were planning on going to?" Sora winced at how loud Riku was speaking. "Is that what you really want?"

"Riku! Calm down. It was just a thought," Sora said, raising his voice back, wanting to drop the subject after seeing Riku getting so worked up over it. He thought his friend would be happy for him, being independent like this. Riku had always said he was too dependent on him and that he should learn to do his own thing. Shouldn't Riku be glad to be rid of him? Riku noticed the scowl on Sora's face and sighed.

"I'm sorry. It's just...this place is all you've ever known. You don't know what to expect out there. I was just being paranoid." Sora offered a weak smile but knew this was bothering Riku a lot more than he led on.

"It's fine." He didn't say anything else and continued to walk, looking over his shoulder to see if Riku would follow. His friend was by his side in an instant. They got to their boat and Riku immediately held out a hand.

"You want to row again?" Riku just nodded. Sora handed him the paddle and they rowed slowly back to Sora's home island. Sora didn't know why Riku always wanted to row the boat. His friend always said it was for the exercise but seeing as Riku already had muscles, he was sure that wasn't it. Sora forgot about it as he laid back onto the boat and crossed his fingers behind his head, completely relaxed.

He was about to ask Riku what he wanted to do back at his place but was surprised to see Riku looking straight at him. No, more like at his shirt. Sora looked down to see when he laid back, his shirt has risen up. He sat up swiftly and pulled it down, red evident on his cheeks. Riku turned away quickly and coughed awkwardly. They both sat there, not sure what to say until Sora turned to Riku with a big smile.

"So what do you want to do back at my place?" he asked as if that embarrassing moment hadn't happened. Riku's shoulders loosened up a bit and Sora had to be proud at that. That was probably the only thing Sora liked about himself. It was that he had the ability to lift any stress or tension in the air with something random.

"I don't know. You have any food back at your house?"

"You didn't eat breakfast yet?"

"Nah. You know my mom's cooking is horrid."

"Why do you think you're always the one that comes over my house for dinner? This has led me to believe you only come over for my mom's cooking."

"Of course, why else would I come over?" Sora laughed and bumped Riku lightly with his foot. They got back to the Sora's island and both fell into a comfortable silence. Silence usually led to Sora going off to his own world. This time he thought about Riku and his conversation earlier. He would've said argument but he wasn't even sure why Riku was angry in the first place. He had explained it was because he was worried but even then, he didn't have to yell about it. Which then led to Sora being curious and breaking the silence.

"Say Riku, what are you going to do after Senior year?"

Unfortunately, Sora didn't get an answer as he felt sudden pain run through his body from his foot and he let out an unmanly yowl.

Riku whipped around quickly and in less than one second was beside the smaller male. Who seemed a lot smaller now that he was in fetal position, holding his foot and letting out a string of curses. Riku would've laughed and teased him if Sora didn't look that much in pain.

"Sora, what happened?" Riku asked, almost frantically.

"Aw man, I hit my foot on something. What was that?" Sora pushed himself up with one hand and glanced at the thing that hit his foot.

Riku saw the edge of a box sticking up and reached over to dig it up.

"Kingdom Hearts," they simultaneously said out loud.

"It looks…ancient," Riku said after getting it free and examining it. Sora leaned over and looked at it curiously.

"What do you think it is? Should we open it?" his friend asked, blue eyes looking at it from every corner. The box was metal and was colored dark green, almost black. It was rusty on the edges, and if you looked closer it had intricate designs carved onto it.

"Let's bring this back and then decide," Riku said."How's your foot?"

"It still stings a bit but it's fine now."

"You need me to carry you?" Riku asked, smirking at Sora who flushed red. "I wouldn't mind."

"Stop joking around, Riku. C'mon! We have to go see what's inside!" The exuberant teen grabbed the box and ran ahead to his house, or more like limped, with his amused friend following behind.

_excuse me_

_too busy_

_oh, writing your tragedy_

_these mishaps you bubble wrap_

_when you've no idea what you're like_

They made it back to their house where Sora's mom had already left for work. Sora immediately turned on the A.C., his body sweaty from all that running in the heat. Riku was a little bit better off but not by much.

"Ugh, sometimes I wish the island wasn't so hot all the time," Sora groaned as he took off his shirt. Riku quickly averted his eyes and tried concentrating on the box. Sora quickly ran into his room and came out in a new red shirt and ice for his foot. He plopped down next to Riku, belly down, on the carpet and put the box in the middle.

"Alright, let's see…" Just as he was about to unlock the box, Riku held a hand on his wrist. Sora looked at his friend questioningly.

"Do you think it's safe? We just find this random box in the sand after you tripped over it, it's dirty and old, it must have been washed up from the shore from who knows where, and now you're just going to open it?"

Sora just stared at his friend for a moment.

"Um…yeah," he answered back as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He quickly clicked the clasp open before Riku could say anything else. They unfolded the box and both awed in surprise.

"A board game," Sora whispered.

It was old, as the art was chipping but it was still beautiful artwork. Sora's hands trailed all over it, looking over it in wonder. Riku was stunned quiet. He was really worried about opening it because really, the box could've held anything, but he relaxed when he saw it was just an old board game.

"Can we play it?" Sora asked.

The worry set in Riku's stomach again. What if it had weird magic and you had to sacrifice a goat to play or something?

"I don't think so," he responded, inspecting the game for any weird black magic.

"Well I'm going to start!" Sora said, grabbing two game board pieces. They looked a bit like humans. Sora set them onto the starting place.

"W-what? I just said I wasn't going to play!"

"Too bad, you're playing and that's final!"

Riku sighed as Sora leaned over to read the instructions on the side in big red and black letters.

_"A game for those who seek to find_

_a way to leave their world behind."_

"So you roll the dice to move the token and first player to reach the end wins."

"Sora, this sounds weird. Don't do this."

"What Riku? It's just a game," Sora said. "So all you have to do is make your little token reach the end by each roll of the dice. Sounds easy enough."

"No, you're not playing and that's final!"

Sora acted as if he didn't hear his friend and continued reading the instructions.

"When the first player reaches the end, you must say 'Kingdom Hearts' out loud. Alright, I got it."

"Sora. Stop. We're putting this away and not going to touch it again," Riku said firmly. Sora ignored him yet again and was about to roll the dice. "Sora no!"

Riku did the first thing that came to mind. He tackled him. Sora would've hit the back of his head against the floor hard but Riku quickly placed his hand behind his head to cushion the fall.

"Oof! Why'd you do that Riku?"

"How could you be this naive!" He didn't trust this board game at all and he was pretty sure there was something off about it. His act of stopping Sora was futile however, as the impact had caused Sora to drop the dice in suprise. A token moved from the starting place to five steps.

"Hey look. It moved on it's own," Sora said in wonder as he raised himself up on his elbows. Riku's body was still covering his as if the game was going to explode. When they saw nothing happened, Riku sat up slowly. Words started floating around in the center of the board, forming a sentence. Sora and Riku both gave a wary glance at each other before leaning forward and reading what it says.

"Shadows from sight they hide, in a strange world where the mad reside," Sora read out loud as he looked back up at Riku.

"I don't…" Riku started, shaking his head but then noticed something at the corner of his eye, "...hey…look!" he whispered. Sora glanced at the board and widened his blue eyes. The board was shaking and suddenly the whole board started glowing.

"What's happening?"

Riku grabbed Sora out of reflex and both teens suddenly found themselves being sucked into the board game and spiraling in a tunnel down to darkness.

* * *

><p><em>(so let go) so let go<em>

_jump in_

_oh well whatcha waiting for_

_it's alright_

_cause there's beauty in the breakdown_

* * *

><p><em>"W-wait! What is this place?" The doorknob gave, what Sora felt, was a disbelieving look. It made Sora feel a bit out of place in this strange place.<em>

_"Why, this is Wonderland of course."_

_Wonderland? Strange world where the mad reside..._

_An uncertain feeling settled at the bottom of Sora's stomach._


	2. Universe Taking Me In Full Bloom Pt 1

Sorry for the length for this one chapter. The other ones won't be as long. I'm going to provide a track list for this story. Mainly because I like it when other authors provide music for their fanfics. I think I'll put a lot of Imogen Heap songs in this story because their songs kind of give the feeling I want.

**Track 01:**

_Must Be Dreaming- Frou Frou_

* * *

><p><em>Pay close attention<em>

_Don't listen to me from now_

Sora wasn't sure how long he was out when he got up but looked around his unfamiliar surroundings. His hands searched for someone else's that wasn't there. Slowly, Sora raised his head groggily.

"Where…am I?" Blue eyes darted back and forth.

It was a room. A room with pink walls and looking very much like a young girl's room.

Sora stood up shakily as that fall kind of shook him up. He dusted off the dirt on his dress and—

Wait.

_Dress?_

Sora glanced down at his attire and wanted to tear off his outfit in embarrassment.

He was wearing a knee-length light blue dress with a white petticoat and on top, a white pinafore and on his legs were stockings that went up to his knee. And a white ribbon tied nicely around his waist. Sora ran a hand through his spiky hair in frustration and saw he had on a thin black headband with a tiny bow.

Aw ain't that cute?

Sora frowned and then worriedly glanced down.

_Pleaseletmehavemyboxers. Pleaseletmehavemyboxers._ Sora looked around to make sure he was alone in this room before lifting his puffy blue dress. And putting it back down.

Damn it. Sora grimaced. Why did they put him in a freaking dress?

This would probably be the only time Sora was glad Riku wasn't here. Speaking of Riku, where was he? They both got in here didn't they? Sora wouldn't be able to take being here alone. He felt guilty for dragging his friend into this mess. It was all his fault. If he hadn't been so curious about that stupid game. Wait, that game. Was it that game that brought him here?

Sora shook his head. This was probably a dream. A weird, twisted, strange, head-boggling dream. That seemed very much real. Sora looked around the room once more.

How was he supposed to get out of this place…?

"I'm late! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" Sora was suddenly knocked off of his feet and onto his ass as a small white rabbit in a red waistcoat rushed past.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Sora yelled, picking himself up in a huff. If Riku was here, he would've laughed and told him young ladies should mind their manners.

He glanced around and saw the rabbit was gone. Where'd he go?

He then noticed the door there.

Was that there before?

Not questioning it, Sora quickly ran over and opened the door to notice…another door. Sora frowned slightly and quickly opened that one as well and again there was another door. More frustrated this time, he flung open door after door, noticing they were getting smaller and smaller.

The door was really small now and Sora was hoping this would be the last one. He didn't even realize even if this was the last door, he wouldn't have been able to fit. As he reached a tan hand to grasp the doorknob, to his surprise, the doorknob sputtered and coughed. Sora immediately released his hand in shock.

"What a rather rude awakening to a nice nap!" the doorknob said.

"Ah!" Sora fell backwards onto his bottom again as he looked at the doorknob in wonder. "Y-you talk!"

"And you didn't say anything when the rabbit spoke," the doorknob pointed out, yawning. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be returning to my nap."

"W-wait! What is this place?" The doorknob gave, what Sora felt, was a disbelieving look. It made Sora feel a bit out of place in this strange place.

"Why, this is Wonderland of course."

Wonderland?_ Strange world where the mad reside..._

An uncertain feeling settled at the bottom of Sora's stomach.

"How can I get through?" Sora said, now painfully aware of the size of the door, as he crouched down on his knees. "This door is way too small."

"No, you're simply too big. You're answer is right behind you," the doorknob answered. Sora turned and just as he did, a table and a chair popped out. Sora jumped a little but walked towards the table. There were two bottles. Sora warily picked up one.

"What is this?" he mumbled to himself.

It was just a plain small bottle.

Both said 'Drink Me.' A part of Sora probably knew this was unsafe but the other just unscrewed the cap and took a sip.

Suddenly, Sora flew down at immense speed and closed his eyes. He opened one to notice…everything was huge. He was at least 3 inches tall!

At least he could get through the door now. He was about to when the doorknob woke up again.

"What are you doing?" he said, looking at the mini Sora.

"Uh…getting through?" Sora replied in more of a question than a statement.

"Without that key you won't," the doorknob said. He looked pointedly at the table which was now a mile high from Sora.

"_What_! Why didn't you tell me that before?" Sora yelled indignantly.

"Now, now, no need to ruffle your feathers," the doorknob said in a somewhat of a teasing manner. That only managed to ruffle up Sora further. "Just eat the cookies and you'll grow back." Sora was about to ask what cookies but a box appeared in front of him.

He opened the box to notice all sorts of different colored cookies. Looking at them made Sora's mouth water. He didn't eat since breakfast and he was starving. But this was a peculiar place and things weren't what they seemed.

Sora cautiously took a yellow sprinkled cookie and took a teeny bite. Which shot him up again at immense speed.

"Ow!" Sora cried as his head hit the ceiling. He rose up his arms and tried pushing down but he was far too big.

"Well this sucks. Thanks a lot," he muttered to the doorknob.

If eating something turned you either big or small, he should just drink the bottle again. Sora tried shuffling and angling himself better but knocked his head on the ceiling a bunch of times. "I hate this place!"

He kicked out his leg and accidentally hit the small door.

"Ouch! Do you mind?" the doorknob grumbled out.

"Yes I do mind! Tell me how to get out of this damn room!"

"Young ladies should not be yelling out like that," the doorknob chastised. Sora's face turned red.

"I'm _not_ a young lady!"

"Sure, sure," the doorknob chuckled causing Sora to cross his arms, insulted. Stupid place with stupid talking inanimate objects.

Sora was about to try again and reach the key but he accidentally knocked into a faucet with his hand in the process, turning it on.

Water gushed out and started filling the room.

"Oh shoot!" He had to get out of here. He swiftly and carefully drank from the orange bottle and felt a huge gust of wind as he shrunk down to mini size again. He was supposed to grab the key on the way down but it was too far now.

Sora plopped into the orange bottle that he drank from and was glad it could float. It swayed dangerously from side to side as he tried staying inside. The light from the brightly colored room soon disappeared as he traveled past the doorknob and pressed his face and hands against the glass, trailing to God knows where.

This _was_ a mad world. And he was unfortunately right in the middle of it.

_And it's anyone's guess how he does this_

_Is the right turn wrong_

Aqua eyes opened groggily as his whole body felt numb.

Riku wasn't sure what happened after grabbing Sora's hand. All he knew was that half of Sora's body had disappeared and he be damned if Sora was going in and he wasn't so he did the first thing in his mind and that was to grab Sora.

Riku was blinded as it was dark everywhere and he was spinning…and oh God…

Where was Sora?

Their hands had separated when they got sucked in. He knew he should've protested against playing the game more.

Riku's head hurt, his arm on which he landed on hurt, and worst of all his heart hurt from pounding so hard against his chest as he worried about his young friend.

He looked around frantically for spiky hair and clutched a handful of his silver hair in worry.

"Sora? Sora!" he cried out for his best friend. Riku looked around his surroundings. How the hell did he get here? It was a strange place. He certainly wasn't on the islands anymore. Everything was oddly colored. Purple, blue, red, and everything in between. And they were huge too. Were mushrooms supposed to be that big? He felt a tad small in this place. And there was no sky which was weird. Riku then noticed his outfit.

He was adorned in a white button up shirt with a dark green waistcoat and a blue polka-dotted tie and brown slacks and black shoes. A green top hat was on the top of his head. Riku frowned. He never particularly liked hats. They always messed up his hair. He didn't want to throw it away though, mainly because this outfit wasn't his and it'd be rude to just toss it aside. So Riku held onto the hat and started to walk.

First thing is to find Sora though so that's what Riku set out to do.

Suddenly something flew past his head.

"What the...?"

He didn't have time to turn around before a blast of fire narrowly almost burned his skin off. Riku whipped around to see a small little red and yellow creature. He wasn't even sure what it was. It's beady glowing yellow eyes inspected him before blasting more fireballs at him. Riku's training back on the islands paid off as he dodged each and every one of them. More of those creatures appeared and started to chase him. Riku was pretty fast in running but he knew he had his limits. Luckily, those things stopped chasing him as he rushed deeper into the forest.

Panting, Riku tried seeing where he was. It was still the forest, just the deeper parts. Maybe if he continued to walk, he'll find the path again.

He wasn't sure how long he walked or how far. He wished he knew how Sora was doing.

_Universe taking me in full bloom_

_Fireball careful with that there_

_See what you made me do_

Why was he here?

Why would the game send him here? Did he have to complete something? How will he get home? These thoughts flew around Sora's head as the heavy waves pushed against the bottle. A raindrop plopped onto Sora's right cheek. The lost boy looked above him and saw the clouds forming together and darkening the skies. Soon there was a light drizzle and afterwards lightning and thunder.

This was not good. Sora tried looking around for a stick or something to help him make the bottle move faster.

He wasn't that great of a rower but it was better than nothing. Unfortunately there was nothing near. It was just a big mass of water all around him. Sora couldn't see any land. That thought alone frightened Sora more than he could think. The waves also started getting stronger. Sora tried steadying the bottle, but that didn't stop a wave nearly toppling the whole thing over.

Another powerful wave washed over the bottle, filling it halfway with water.

Sora groaned at his bad luck. How was he to get out of this mess?

The bottle lurched again and Sora found himself being flown out of the bottle and into the raging waters.

"Agh!" Sora sputtered out. He almost thought he was going to drown and the dress wasn't exactly a lightweight. A huge wave crashed down as Sora spiraled around in the water. Sora flapped his arms around, trying to stay up, and gasped for air, choking as water filled his lungs. Wave after wave crashed onto him. Even as a pretty capable swimmer, he couldn't win against these waters. He did the only thing he could think of doing.

"Help! Riku! Anybody!" Sora cried out. He didn't get a response but he didn't expect to. The clouds thundered above him and for the first time, Sora felt utterly alone. The waves dragged him down under again and Sora didn't have the strength to push back up.

He was going to die.

Sora couldn't die. He still had to find Riku. To make sure he was okay. This was a dream though right? He could do anything he wanted in dreams. R

Right?

Water rushed through his lungs. He couldn't hold his breath any longer.

Sora wasn't so sure this was a dream anymore.

He wished he wasn't this weak. Riku would've survived this silly storm. Just as Sora was about to give up and let the waves drag him down, a sudden flash of light shone around him and Sora felt this indescribable warmth fill his whole body. That surge of light gave him the strength back in his legs and the numbness in his body disappear. Gathering the rest of his strength, he shot himself out of the water.

To be honest, Sora wasn't really clear on what had happened.

One minute he was drowning underwater and then the next he was sputtering and coughing out water on a sandy beach. How did he get out of his death trap?

His lungs hurt like hell and he was freezing. He tried rubbing his arms and shivered. He missed Riku. What was he going to do now? Riku usually had all the ideas and was always there to calm him. What had saved him back there?

Deciding to not dwell too much on it, he stood up and shook out some water from his shoes.

And just like that, soaking wet and worn out, Sora set off to find his best friend.

He continued down the long road and sighed at how painful his shoes were. He took them off and held them in one hand and continued walking.

"Urgh, blisters…" Sora grumbled.

_Incendiary glance_

_Be come and collide in me_

Riku squinted his eyes to get a better look at what was ahead.

It was a…large caterpillar.

How odd. Riku continued walking until he was a few feet away from the large insect.

Was he _smoking_?

Riku inched closer and coughed awkwardly.

The Caterpillar seemed to ignore him.

"Um…excuse me?" The large insect glanced at him with indifference. Riku coughed loudly. The Caterpillar turned to face him and towered over him.

"May. I. Help. You?" He paused between each word with smoke puffing out and onto Riku's face making the teen cough violently.

"Yes, actually," _cough,_ "I'm looking," _cough cough_, "for my friend. He's shorter than me, has brown spiky hair, and blue eyes. Have you seen him?"

The Caterpillar leaned back and seemed to ignore him while continuously smoking on his pipe. Riku decided to try again, a bit louder this time.

"Have you seen my friend?"

The worm turned to inspect Riku and spoke again.

"I haven't." Riku's grimaced from that fact and from the amount of smoke he inhaled.

"Do you know what the creatures here were?" Riku asked, still thinking about those things that had attacked him. The Caterpillar opened one eye and inspected him closely.

"Hm...it was the shadows..."

"Shadows?"

"The Heartless," the insect whispered to him.

"How do you...get rid of them?"

"Why the key of course," the Caterpillar scoffed. Riku inwardly sighed. This bug wasn't going to help much. No point dwelling on this subject.

"By any chance do you know how to get bigger?" he asked.

"I am three inches tall and I believe this is a reasonable height," the Caterpillar said, obviously offended.

"Ah…yeah, sorry. I mean I love being three inches tall but I really need to find my friend and I can't do so being this tiny," Riku reasoned. The Caterpillar seemed to calm down and resumed smoking.

"Just take a bite of the mushroom," he said, dismissively.

"The mushroom?" Riku questioned.

"One side of the mushroom will make you taller. The other will make you shorter."

Yeah sure, trust the huge, rude caterpillar that wouldn't stop smoking for two seconds to talk to him.

The silver haired teen felt incredibly stupid for leaning down to the very mushroom the caterpillar was sitting on. Was he supposed to sniff it? Lick it? What? What if it was poisonous and the caterpillar was just looking to get rid of him?

Riku decided to break off one piece on one side and one on the other. He chose the one in his left hand and warily bit into it. His stomach felt weird and Riku thought he was going to puke. He closed his eyes and leaned forward to get ready for the contents to come back right up.

What he didn't expect when he opened his eyes was the blue sky…and him twenty feet in the trees. When he said he wanted to grow taller, he didn't expect him to be a giant.

Riku walked around, trying to find his way around the trees. Some birds squawked and attacked his face, thinking he was out to steal their eggs.

"Shoo! Piss off!" Riku tried scaring the birds away by swinging his hat at them but that only angered them more. Riku, pissed that those stupid birds messed up his hair, quickly took the part of the mushroom in his right hand and bit a little bit into it.

His head felt light as he flew down and when he opened his eyes, he was normal size again.

Sighing in relief, he stuffed the left mushroom in his left pocket and the right in the other, and continued his journey in his unfamiliar place, wanting nothing more than to go home after finding his lost friend.

_Zoom in enhance hold_

_While i go helplessly sky high_

_Magic eye sugar rushing don't stop_

Sora saw a house in the distance. Maybe they'll let him dry off there. He knocked lightly on the door. When nobody answered, he twisted the knob, surprised to see it unlocked. He peeked in and saw a woman in there. He was about to apologize for intruding but she didn't even notice him.

Sora walked fully in and then noticed the cook there, stirring soup. She was muttering to herself about how there wasn't enough. She then took a huge pepper can and started pouring large amounts of pepper into the soup.

"A-achoo!"

The pepper had gathered into the air making Sora sneeze incessantly. The woman that he first saw also started to sneeze along with the baby in her arms. The cook started throwing dishes around, one that would surely have hit Sora in the head if he didn't have fast reflexes and ducked_._

"Watch it!" Sora said as he ducked another flying dish. _What a violent temper…_Sora thought in his head.

A purple cat suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Whoa!" Sora fell backwards but caught himself. The cat grinned a huge smile that sent chills down the brunet's spine. "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a cat smile like that before."

"You'll see a lot of things that you wouldn't see every day here in Wonderland," the Cheshire Cat said, propping his head up on two paws.

"You can say that again," Sora muttered. The Duchess of the house turned around and pushed the baby into Sora's arms. "H-hey! What?"

The woman was already gone and Sora was left with the baby. The small thing started to cry.

"Uh...shoot. Shh...don't cry," he tried as he swayed the baby back and forth. Sora was never good with babies before. He looked up to see the cat was already gone. Sora started bouncing the baby up and down but it made him look like he had to go to the bathroom. He glanced around for the cat and then looked down to the baby.

Which wasn't a baby anymore.

"A pig!" Sora yelped and quickly dropped the pig in surprise to which the pig squealed loudly in annoyance and walked off.

The brunet sighed and decided to leave this house and continue his path. Riku was obviously not here. He wasn't sure how long he walked. It must've been hours. His mom was probably worried…

The Cheshire cat appeared in front of him again.

"You! You can just vanish and appear?" Sora cried out.

"Why of course. In here, anything is possible," the Cheshire Cat replied, twisting his head all around.

It made Sora cringe. He might as well as the cat some questions.

"Hey, Mr. Cat, sir?" Sora said uncertainly, not knowing how to address the cat. When the cat didn't correct him, he continued. "Do you know anything about how to get out of this place?"

The Cheshire Cat didn't answer but simply just laughed. "Here you'll find a missing link. In order to retrieve it, you must shrink."

Sora was about to open his mouth and ask what it was but then the cat vanished. And appeared again next to his head and balancing one leg on his shoulder.

"You're uncertain about the path to go to," the cat stated. Sora nodded as he saw the crossroads he was at. "I suggest you go to the Mad Hatter and the March Hare."

"B-but why would I want to go to someone who's mad?" Sora asked worriedly.

"Everybody's mad here. Even you," the cat said, grinning. Sora was about to retort but the cat vanished with a final laugh and he didn't return. The brunet didn't know what possessed him to listen to the cat but he continued walking. Maybe he _was_ mad. After all, it's not everyday you get sucked into a board game.

_Magic eye sugar rushing don't stop_

This place is crazy, Riku's first thought when he heard some distant singing up ahead.

The silver-head really didn't want to see any other strange people but how else was he going to find Sora?

He walked right into the tea party and saw a rather strange looking short man with white hair and a top hat. There was a brown hare beside him that looked just as crazy. They both turned to look at him when he came in.

"How rude! You don't just come in uninvited to an unbirthday party!" the Hare exclaimed. The man beside him nodded vigorously.

"But seeing as this is an Unbirthday party, we'll let you join in!"

Riku looked uncertainly between the two.

"Wait! I'm looking for my friend. Have you seen him? He has brown hair and..." he asked as the Hare pushed him down onto a chair while the Hatter kept shaking the teapot.

"Would you like more tea?" he asked, interrupting Riku's description of Sora.

Riku looked down questioningly at his teacup which was empty.

"Um…how could you give me more if I don't even have any?"

"You can always have more!" the Hare answered.

What crazy people.

"I need to know where my friend, Sora, went!" he pleaded. "He has blue eyes, and spiky hair, and tan skin. He's about this tall..." Riku was again cut off when a teapot was shattered.

"He sounds like a pleasant lad," the Hatter commented, twirling his hat around a finger.

"H-he is. Do you have any idea where I can find him?" He never got straight answers in this place.

"Have some more tea!" the Hare said, missing his cup and pouring some on Riku's clothes.

"You both are crazy. I don't have time for this nonsense! I'm out of here," the aggravated teen growled.

He stood up abruptly and threw his cup onto the ground, making it smash, and left the garden.

"My, how rude!" the Mad Hatter said as the March Hare agreed whole-heartedly.

Riku continued to walk when he heard some rustling in the bushes. Out came the same shadows as before but this time they were blue. How did they keep finding him? Riku tried running again but one of those Heartless, as he recalled they were called, blew ice in front of him. Great, first fire, now ice. What's next, lightning? He shouldn't have spoken so soon as now the yellow counterparts of the red and blue showed up. Riku cursed as he tried dodging fireballs, ice, and now lightning.

Unfortunately, one of them was too fast and iced his whole left arm.

As he tried hitting his arm on nearby trees to break the ice, he felt the ground vibrate. A huge creature appeared in front of him. Riku's eyes widened. These weren't Heartless were they?

He didn't have time to think before they charged towards him. Riku, in shock, couldn't move. He raised up his two hands in defense, though he was pretty sure it was going to be futile. A huge force made Riku nearly fall back. He opened an eye to see the huge body fly back. And in his hand, a...key? He remembered that Caterpillar's words before. He mentioned a key.

"What am I supposed to do with it?" he questioned. Those little blue things came towards him again. Riku slashed at them with the key in his hands and to his amazement, they actually got hurt by it.

Riku slashed his way through all those monsters and finally made it to a clearing out of that godforsaken forest. The key disappeared in his hand after he was out of danger. The disheveled teen didn't seem too bothered. He figured it would appear in his time of need.

_I must be dreaming_

_Or we're onto something_

Sora's ears perked up when he heard singing in the distance. Sora started to run and stopped when he noticed a…tea party? Sora slowly stepped through the gates and smiled shyly at the two hosts.

"Why hello there! You know, it is quite rude to show up unannounced and uninvited to a party!" the Hare said to Sora while hopping on the table. Sora's eyes brightened at the sight of all the food and tea on the table.

"Uh…really sorry to intrude. I just couldn't help overhearing your song. You both have very nice voices," Sora complimented.

"Ah, what a charming young lady," Sora glared and was about to correct him, "Much nicer than the person that came by earlier!" Sora's face brightened at that, "I suppose we could let you join in! The more the merrier!" the Hatter said at the same time he was drinking a cup of tea. Sora saw all the contents spill out the side of the man's mouth and gave an uneasy smile.

It wasn't much different than what he had expected.

"Here, here! Sit!" the Hare said excitedly, pushing Sora to a seat and pushed him down onto by his shoulders. Sora tried asking them who was the person that came by earlier but they interrupted quite a few times before Sora just decided to ask when they weren't so hyped up.

"Would you like some more tea?" the Hare asked. Sora tilted his head confusedly.

"Um…I can't have more if I don't have any," Sora replied, looking at his tiny and empty cup.

"You can always have more!" the Hatter said. "Now…why is a raven like a writing desk?"

"Huh?" Sora questioned.

The Hare moved up really close to Sora's face so they were eye to eye.

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" he repeated the Hatter's riddle. Sora scrunched up his nose in thought.

"I give up. Why?" he asked. He failed to notice the Hare pouring hot tea into his cup and didn't stop when it reached the brim, burning his hand. "Ow!"

"I don't know the answer either but riddles are fun aren't they?" the Hatter laughed. The Hare and Hatter linked arms and began dancing around in circles on the table.

"I'm actually pretty sick of riddles," Sora mumbled to himself as he sipped his tea. He grimaced as he placed the tea back down. Too much sugar. The two both suddenly bounced right in front of him. Sora leaned so far back, he nearly toppled over.

"Happy Unbirthday to you!" they chanted.

"Unbirthday? What's that?" Sora questioned.

He quickly poured it into the plant's nearby when the Hatter and the Hare turned way.

"Why it's the 364 days that's not your birthday!" they answered. Sora mouthed an 'o' and nodded.

"Well thank you," he said. "Sorry I can't celebrate my unbirthday with you two. I'm looking for my friend. You said he stopped by here earlier?"

"Right before you showed up," the Hatter said. "Very unpleasant fellow, may I say!"

"Haha, yeah well Riku's like that to people he doesn't like...not that he doesn't like you guys!" Sora hurriedly added as the Hatter moved considerably close to his face, yet again. "He must've be in a bad mood. Do you know where he went?"

"Can't say that I do!" both of them answered.

Sora frowned in disappointment.

"It was nice meeting you two anyway," Sora said, giving a weak smile as he left the tea party.

"We'll hope to see you again!"

Sora continued to hear the sounds of laughter and singing until the voices died down and he was met with silence yet again.

_I must be dreaming_

_For I don't fall in love lawlessly_

Riku had ran until he was pretty sure he couldn't feel his legs anymore. He found himself in front of a house.

He wasn't sure if he should knock or just walk in and decided on the latter. In this kooky place, he was sure no one would actually mind.

Aquamarine eyes widened at how dirty the place was. There was broken plates everywhere and mysterious liquid on the floor. He smelt something in the air and then started to sneeze.

"Ugh, what is that? Is that pepper?" Riku said out loud to no one in particular. To his surprise he heard chuckling. He whipped around and was face to face with a…cat.

"Surprise," the Cheshire cat said. Riku quickly backed away from the strange grinning cat. It really kind of freaked him out. "And you are correct. It is pepper!"

"Um. Yeah." He might as well ask for Sora then. "Did you happen to see a boy a bit shorter than me with brown spiky hair and blue eyes pass by here?"

"Maybe I have," the cat grinned extra this time and disappeared. Riku looked around for the cat with a hopeful glance. The cat appeared in front of him again and laughed. "Or maybe I haven't." Riku groaned.

He was really sick of this place.

"Did you or did you not? I need to find him so we can figure out a way of this stupid place," Riku said. "Where is he? Was he here?"

The cat laughed and his body disappeared, leaving on his head. "Does it matter if he was here or not? He's already gone."

"So he _was_ here?"

"Who was?"

"My _friend_!" Riku was about to tear out his hair. "Never mind. Which way should I go?"

"I can't say I know. It doesn't really matter where you go when you're in a place as mad as this."

With a final laugh of the cat, the face of the cat vanished leaving the grin and finally that was gone too.

Riku felt that conversation was rather unfulfilling and just plain confusing.

What was this place? Why were those things chasing him?

He remembered opening that damn game and then getting sucked into it along with Sora but then what?

What were they supposed to do now?

Could they even get out?

He wasn't even sure if Sora was in the same place as him with the cat dodging his questions back and forth.

The silver haired teen decided to leave this house but just as he was about to reach the door, he tripped over something and fell over headfirst but he flailed his arms around in order to get some balance. It would've worked if he didn't slip over the liquid on the floor. And right into the wall.

_I must be dreaming_

_Or pinch me to waking_

Sora strolled along and felt this place was getting crazier and crazier. Or maybe it was him that was getting madder and madder?

He stopped when he heard the chirping of birds and the smell of fresh grass.

Walking a little bit faster, he stopped at a green garden with beautifully…painted flowers?

Who paints flowers? Sora thought to himself. He walked up to the (playing card?) soldiers and watched them work.

"Excuse me?" Sora asked.

Card people? This place seemed stranger and stranger.

The cards turned to him.

"May I ask, what you are doing?" Sora said in the most polite tone he could muster.

"This bozo right here accidentally planted white roses," the black card spoke out, pointing to a sheepish looking red card. "Our queen wants red roses and our heads will be cut off if she finds out! Now help us!"

A paintbrush was shoved into his arms. Sora shrugged. Eh why not?

He dipped it into the ruby red paint and began painting the red roses.

He had to say he was doing a pretty good job. Back at home, he used to suck at art classes so it felt nice to help out for once.

Teachers tended to not let him do anything that would cause harm to other students. Aka everything.

"The Queen's arriving!" Sora turned at the sound of that familiar voice and widened his eyes.

It was that white rabbit that he first saw.

Everybody stood up straight and stiff. Sora quickly followed suit, squeezing himself between two card soldiers.

After all, he _liked_ his head attached to his body very much. He turned his head slightly to see the Queen, a plump woman with a very red face, and a scowling expression.

She walked by slowly, making the tension rise between all the cards and Sora. The brunet felt oddly out of place but hoped she wouldn't notice. It didn't do well that he started sweating like crazy in his warm dress. The Queen turned to the side all of a sudden and then gasped out loud, making everybody still, and Sora jump slightly.

"What is this!" the Queen shouted enraged. She was pointing to a red rose.

Well a partly red rose.

The painting of the rose was incomplete, wet paint still dripping from the white plant.

Sora gulped. The cards beside him shivered in fear. The Queen turned to them, her fat red face fuming.

"Who did this! I want an answer and I want it now!" she screamed. _Wow, someone needs anger management,_ Sora thought, and he would've laughed aloud at that thought if he wasn't scared for his life at that moment.

"Please, Your Majesty, it was an honest mistake!" the card to his right said, knees shaking. The Queen looked like she thought about his answer for a minute before smiling in a twisted way at him.

"OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" she shrieked. The other card soldiers carried off the three cards that were working on the roses off. Sora looked at them sadly and then glared at the Queen. Who does she think she is? Well…the Queen, but still! He was about to speak out when one of the cards across from him shook his head fearfully, warning him.

Sora frowned. Was she actually serious about the off with their heads part? Sora unconsciously rubbed his neck and shivered. He had to get out of here before she notices—

"And who, may I ask, are you?" the Queen said, no hint of politeness in her question, pointing her heart shaped staff at Sora's face.

"Uh…Sora, Your Majesty," Sora said, bowing slightly, pushing the staff slightly away from his face.

"How distasteful! Young ladies curtsy, not bow!" the Queen said, crossing her wide arms and inspecting Sora from head to toe.

"That's because I'm not a young lady," Sora muttered for the fiftieth time.

"What was that! Are you accusing me of lying?" she questioned. More like yelled. Sora automatically put up two hands in defense and shook his head.

"No, no. Of course not, Your Highness. You're right, you're right!" Sora said quickly, in attempt to calm her down. She looked at him as if expecting something. Well, Sora, you're already humiliated enough. A bit more wouldn't hurt.

Sora sighed and held the edges of his dress, bent his knees, and curtsied…like the manly man he was.

He glanced up to see her content to him not putting up much of fight.

_Wish I had my wooden sword with me so I can knock that ugly smile off her face_, Sora thought in his head but on the outside he was the perfect lady, giving a bright smile to the Queen.

"Very good. I'm not quite sure I've seen you around before," she said, walking around Sora as he stood up straight again.

He felt stiff and worried that even the slightest movement would set her off.

"Uh…I don't usually visit castle grounds," Sora lied, twiddling his fingers.

"I see…so you don't even have time to visit your Queen, is that it?" she asked, eyes scrutinizing him closely.

"No, no, that's not it at all," Sora said quickly. The Queen looked at him, waiting for him to continue, but Sora didn't really have anything else to add to that.

"Alright, I'm losing interest. You are playing a game of croquet with me. Guards!" The cards came and handed Sora a…flamingo?

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Sora mumbled to himself.

"Speak up! Young ladies do not mumble to themselves!" the Queen pestered.

"Sorry, Your Majesty. I just said what a lovely...flamingo this is," Sora said quickly as he walked up to the…hedgehog?

Even back at the islands, they didn't get this bored to play croquet with live animals.

This was just cruel.

The Queen however didn't seem to think any less of the game as she swung the flamingo.

Sora almost laughed seeing as she completely missed but he really liked his head attached to his neck so he held it in.

He sputtered disbelievingly as he saw the hedgehog move anyway and it went through all the hoops on its own.

What a _cheater_! He hated cheaters.

"What was that?" the Queen whipped around to glare at him. Sora froze as he realized he spoke out loud, and gave his most sweet, charming smile.

"Uh…it was nothing, Your Majesty. Just me spouting nonsense," Sora said, with another little curtsy. The Queen looked suspiciously at Sora but then her attention was back to the game.

"It's your turn. Just try and beat me," the Queen said smugly.

Sora, having a competitive streak, was determined to beat her score.

He walked up to the hedgehog and swung his flamingo back to hit the hedgehog. Right before he hit the little creature, he whispered a 'sorry!' before letting the bird swing. The hedgehog, however, had other plans as it purposely dodged the bird. Sora saw the animal dodge in mid-swing and ended up turning all 360 degrees.

"Hey!" Sora yelled as he caught himself. "I would've hit that!" He inwardly growled. The Queen merely laughed as did the guards.

Sora never did take humiliation quietly.

_So this is how she wants to play_. He quickly caught the hedgehog off-guard and quickly hit it with the beak of the flamingo, sending it flying. He winced. He wasn't supposed to swing it that hard.

Great, now he was a girl _and_ an animal abuser.

He widened his eyes as he saw the hedgehog go through every hoop, bouncing off the grass ledges.

"Yes!" Sora yelled out, pumping his fists. "I win! Take that!"

Sora covered his mouth quickly. Shoot, he wasn't supposed to say that out loud. Sora, being overshadowed by Riku back at the islands, was not used to winning very often so the rare times he did win, well…he tended to get a bit cocky and such. What? Everybody deserved bragging rights. But there was a time and place for everything. The Queen of Hearts looked ready to blow up. Her fat face turned red in less than a second and her finger was raised pointedly at Sora.

"You…You CHEATED. YOU CHEATED. GUARDS! OFF WITH HER HEAD!"

"I'm a boy!" Sora yelled back. He was sick of this. "And I didn't cheat!" The guards still held him back though. He wanted to strangle the Queen really bad.

"LIES! LIES!"

"Well, at least I wouldn't have if you didn't cheat first!"

"NOW SHE'S ACCUSING ME OF CHEATING? AH THE HORROR! OFF WITH IT! OFF WITH IT!"

The guards began tugging Sora back and to God knows where.

"I didn't do it!"

_So undeniably yours_

_As long as i'm losing it so completely_

Riku groaned as he opened his eyes slightly. He reached a hand up to touch his head and winced at the bump. How long was he out? He looked around and saw he was still in the same house.

He heard a squeal and turned around to see a pig. It squealed and ran away when Riku stood up and glared menacingly at it.

He tripped over a freaking_ pig_.

And into the wall.

Where he blacked out. Great. That was wasted time.

Riku groaned and picked himself up as he continued his quest to find Sora and some freaking answers. Riku took off his hat as it started to make his head feel hot and looked around. There didn't seem to be anything off about where the path was leading him. Riku frowned as he was lead to a fork in the road.

"Great, just great," he muttered to himself. He hated picking a path. He never knew which ones to choose and would take forever.

"Which one are you going to take?" Riku jumped at the sound and calmed to see the Cheshire cat again.

"Uh…which one do you think I should take?" he asked.

"Well where do you want to go?" The cat's head rolled around in a 360 degree rotation and still had that freaking grin on.

"I don't even know where Sora is…" Riku said it mostly to himself but the Cheshire Cat heard it.

"Then it doesn't matter where you go," and with that the cat vanished once again.

"I'm going to go crazy in this place," Riku sighed as he put on his hat and walked down the path on his right.

"NOW SHE'S ACCUSING ME OF CHEATING. OFF WITH IT! OFF WITH IT!" Riku raised an eyebrow. Someone sounded angry. He ran towards the voice and was met with a garden. A pretty nice garden he might add. There were a lot of nicely colored trees with bright red roses and a fountain.

Wait, was that rose dripping red? Everybody was too busy watching that woman blow her her head off.

There were card soldiers dragging a little girl away. Riku looked at her sympathetically before turning to leave when...

"I didn't do it!"

Wait.

Riku turned back so quickly he was afraid his head would snap off of his body.

Sora. It was _Sora._

* * *

><p><em>Euphoria i can't take any more of<em>  
><em>Yah i'm losing it<em>

* * *

><p>I originally didn't want to put in Wonderland because it's cliche and I mean I'm sure mostly already knows the story but I just love the world so much that I had to put it in here. I based this chapter off of the original Wonderland story and parts of it from the Disney one. If there were any mistakes, let me know(: Thanks for reading!<p> 


	3. Universe Taking Me In Full Bloom Pt 2

I just realized I forgot to put the riddle in. My mistake D: I got that riddle from searching on google. I just suck at riddles xD Maybe I'll make up one or two on my own in a few.

You guys can pretty much skip my author notes. I don't really say anything important enough to read anyway xD If I do, I'll let you know but mostly I just say whatever comes to mind.

Ugh, I feel terrible. I've been sneezing this whole day :( I felt too groggy to do anything else but maybe editing this wasn't such a good idea while sick. I'm currently listening to the How To Train Your Dragon Soundtrack. It always makes me feel better and it's my favorite movie! I was all excited and going 'Oh my gosh, this should be in Kingdom Hearts!' And then I remembered it's not Disney. Bummer. It was a spur of the moment sort of thing.

At least Neku is going to be in the next game! It's going to make me laugh if he's only going to be in there for five seconds because everybody's spazzing out about him.

You know, maybe my chapters should be as long as the last one. It wasn't even as long as I thought it'd be. Sorry if there are any errors!

Now continuing on from last chapter-

* * *

><p>"I didn't do it!"<p>

"Sora!" Sora's ears perked up as he heard that familiar voice.

"Riku?" Sora said, disbelievingly, eyes darting back and forth to try and spot his friend. Riku burst into the clearing to see Sora being held back by playing cards.

"Sora! I've been looking everywhere for you!" He glared at the cards who pointed their weapons at him. "Unhand him! What do you think you're doing?"

"**Excuse me**? Who do you think you are!" The Queen looked ready to burst as she glared at the stranger that entered her garden.

"I'm his friend! Now tell them to let him go!"

"NO ONE GIVES ORDERS TO ME! GET HIM!" The guards looked back and forth at Riku and Sora, not knowing which one to capture, but they let go of the brunet to attack the newcomer. As soon as Sora was unhanded, he ran towards Riku, trying to shove the cards away as they surrounded his friend.

"Don't hurt him!" he yelled. A light suddenly shone from his necklace. "Huh?" The cards momentarily paused as they turned around to see where the source of light was coming from. Everybody was blinded for a second as the light bursted and started to form some sort of an object. Riku's eyes widened as he saw what it was forming.

"This key…" he said, remembering the when he was drowning and the weapon appeared to him in his time of need.

He summoned up his strength, pulling his arm back, and letting it swing at a nearby card, sending it flying several feet away.

"Sora, where did you get that?" Riku asked, eyes widening. It was the same key he used back with those creatures. The older male then caught sight of a tiny black...headband? He glanced down and finally noticed what his friend was wearing. His emerald eyes widened even more if that was possible as he stared.

"A-and what are you _wearing_?" he stuttered. Sora turned a healthy shade of bright red.

"Can we discuss my choice of clothing later?" Sora said as he quickly turned and slashed at another card. The brunet honestly felt bad for them. They were only acting on orders. He looked at Riku, a panicked look on his face, as more and more cards started advancing but he was met with a faraway look in Riku's eyes. Just what was he thinking about at a time like this?

"Riku!" he yelled to catch his attention. Riku ducked just in time as a spear flew at his head.

"Uh, right, we have to get out of here." Sora hit a few more cards before answering.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" he asked, breathlessly.

"I don't know but come on!" Riku grabbed Sora's wrist and together they ran away from the Queen and her cards. They gave chase however. The Queen was still shouting her head off.

Riku climbed over the ledge and helped Sora a hand up and over. Holding hands, they quickly jumped off and started to run.

"Ugh, back in this forest," Sora groaned. Riku felt the same way but at least it was away from everybody else.

"We have to hurry, they'll be here soon!" With another tug to the wrist, Riku began running blindly, dragging Sora behind him. They quickly dove behind some bushes. Riku tried pushing Sora down as the brunet kept peeking over the bushes for the card soldiers, which defeated the purpose of hiding.

"Sora, stop looking or they'll find us!" Riku whispered.

"How will we know when to get out from the bushes if we don't know where they are?" Sora said back.

"Well obviously we're not going to check for them now! We just got here."

"Sorry if I want to know where our enemy is!"

"Where did they go?" Sora and Riku cursed under their breaths as the cards came nearer. Riku made the shushing gesture as he nodded his head towards the huge tree in the clearing. They would have to be quiet and quick. The silver-head pushed Sora in front of him as they both dashed for it.

"You think you can climb this tree?" Riku asked, in a teasing tone. Sora narrowed his eyes.

"Of course I can!" Sora bumped Riku aside as he began making his journey up the tall trunk of the tree. Step by step, he tried climbing up the huge tree with his sorry excuse for shoes. His fingers also hurt a bit but he was used to tree climbing for seagull eggs back at the islands.

"Uh…Sora…"

Sora paused in his climbing as he looked down to his friend.

"What? Why aren't you climbing?"

"Um…"

"What are you starin—oh shoot! I'm still in a dress! Riku, look away!" Sora nearly shrieked at the last part. He couldn't exactly pull down his dress with his hands occupied.

"I…can't. You're…not in boxers," Riku dumbly stated.

"You think I don't know that? You can tease me later, but right now, let's go! The sooner we get out the better," Sora said as he continued climbing. Riku averted his eyes as he climbed up the tree after him.

They both made it to a branch and sat down to rest.

"Wow, this is really high up," Sora commented.

"Hey Sora, look." Sora turned to his friend to see a big hole in the tree. "You think it leads anywhere?"

"It's...a hole," Sora said.

"Yeah."

"And you want to see if it leads anywhere?"

"Pretty much."

Sora sighed and thought about it. This place was full of hidden passages and weird pathways. Maybe it did lead somewhere.

"Hm, not sure. Knowing this place, probably. You think we should risk it?" Sora asked, peeking in. Riku nodded.

"I'll go first to see if it's dangerous," he said, about to stick one leg in.

"No way! I should go first! If it is dangerous, I have the key to help," he said, his own leg going in.

"I can use the key too so I'll be able to destroy any enemies."

"You can use it too?"

"Yeah. I still don't know how the board game works or how it took us here but we'll figure it out along the way," Riku said.

"Well, I rolled the dice so shouldn't it be me doing all the work?" Sora said, pulling his leg back.

"The game obviously affects everybody that plays, not just the person who rolled the dice. Besides, Sora, I'm older and responsible for what happens to you," Riku stated. Sora glared at Riku and pointed a finger in front of the older teen's face.

"You're older only by a year and I'm not a freaking kid for you to take care of!" he said back.

"Ugh, Sora, stop being so immature!" Riku scoffed.

"Stop being such a girl!"

"Says the person wearing a dress!"

"Says the person with the long hair!"

"They're up there!"

Sora and Riku widened their eyes at each other before they looked down to see the guards running towards the tree.

"At the same time then!" they both decided as they jumped down the hole. Riku unconsciously held onto Sora's hand as they fell quickly. All of a sudden, they stopped going so quickly and slowed a reasonable amount.

"Hey, we're floating," Sora said, laughing. Riku couldn't help but softly chuckle too. At least they weren't falling to their doom. They landed and Sora frowned at the familiar place.

"Ugh, back where I started," Sora said, kicking the ground. "It took me forever to get out of here." When he didn't hear a mocking response or even a light laugh, Sora turned around to look for his friend.

"Riku?"

Turning around he noticed Riku was completely gone.

"Be careful of the shadows in the ceiling."

Sora didn't have time to see whose voice it had belonged to before he was blown off his feet. He would've crashed into the wall if he didn't flip over and onto his feet.

Blue eyes widened in horror.

"Oh, no."

A huge tall, thin, weird looking shadow, colored red, black, and gold, with spindly legs, wiggly arms, several faces on top of each other with glowing yellow eyes and jagged mouths.

The shadow was juggling, it seemed to Sora, who was still in shock. It was huge! Well from Sora's point of view that is. The weapon appeared automatically in Sora's hands again. He had to fight that thing?

"Not that easy, is it?"

"You!" Sora said, seeing the Cheshire Cat floating in front of him.

"The shadows from the darkness. The Trickmaster. You must fight if you wish to leave. Use the Keyblade wisely."

Sora wasn't as skilled of a fighter as Riku. What if he lost?

The Cat seemed to have read his face.

"Wonderland would be a nice home, wouldn't it?" Sora gulped. "It's simple. Here," Sora wasn't sure what the Cat gave him. "Just say Blizzard." With that the Cat vanished with a final grin.

"Coward," Sora muttered.

The monster started moving, or more like swayed, towards Sora. It looked unpredictable. It looked capable of killing Sora with one stomp of his foot but on the other hand, looked ready to trip over its own feet.

Sora dodged out of the way from its feet and jumped up onto the chair and then on the table to get some leverage. When he was almost face to face with the monster, Sora jumped as far as he could and started slashing it as hard as he could with the key. Huffing, Sora paused his strikes as the creature stopped moving.

The monster was knocked out for several seconds.

Was that it?

Sora's hope was diminished as the monster was up as soon as he had that thought. Great. Sora was still tiny. How did he expect to beat it? He struggled onto the chair, feet dangling, and then jumped onto the table. This was tiring! Sora wasn't sure if he was going to make it through this battle. What did the cat tell him to use again?

"Blizzard!" Sora yelled out. Ice came from his keyblade but Sora was caught off guard as the power from the key made him lose his balance. He flipped over and fell onto the floor. Groaning, he got up on his hands and knees slowly. The monster's foot came slamming down forward and nearly crushed the small boy.

Trying again, Sora held the keyblade tighter as he pointed it directly at the Trickmaster. Ice beams shot out again. Sora still almost got knocked off his feet by the surge of strength but held his balance and the ice shards hit the monster spot on in the middle of the body. Sora dashed as quickly as he could back up on the table and bashed it some more with the keyblade. His muscles were already sore but he had a bit more hope that he could make it through.

The monster seemed to stop playing games as the juggling and movement of his feet got quicker. Sora quickly dodged the fireball it sent out.

"Fireballs? Seriously? Who the heck invented this game?" he said to no one in particular as he began running from the shadow. Talking to himself did seem to make him less scared though. He hid behind the chair and peeked at the Trickmaster.

A fireball nearly singed his hair off as it blasted on the spot on the floor near his head.

"Crazy people, that's who," he muttered under his breath. He tried jumping onto the chair again but he saw the table disappeared.

"What! Where did it go?" he said frantically. The Trickmaster shot out a lot of fireballs at once. Sora narrowed his eyes in determination. He moved his legs farther apart and held his stance.

"Blizzard!" he yelled pointing it directly in the fireball. The flames dispersed. Another one shot out directly after it. This time Sora turned his Keyblade to the sides and blocked it. It reflected it back to the shadow, knocking it out momentarily.

The table burst back up.

Sora took no chances as he jumped up and struck it without mercy.

Sora panted as he stopped swinging the Keyblade. His muscles hurt. He was pretty sure they'd be sore by tomorrow. Sweat dripped down his cheek as the key disappeared from his hand.

The monster didn't seem to make a move. A sudden twitch made Sora want to drop to his knees and cry.

"Huh?"

Abruptly, the shadows burst and Sora was flung back onto the ground. All that was left of the Trickmaster was a small fire in the middle of the room that eventually burned out.

"Sora!" Sora saw he was standing on the table again. He turned and found himself engulfed in Riku's embrace.

"Mmku?" Sora's voiced muffled. Riku quickly backed away as if embarrassed.

Sora tilted his head confusedly at him.

"I-I was so worried! I had no idea where I went but I just saw you fighting that monster and I couldn't even help. And that stupid Cat was there but he didn't even help. But then you started kicking its ass and I was like 'Go Sora!' but I still felt guilty and I'm so sorry," Riku said all in one mouthful.

"Riku stop, you sound like me when I was younger," Sora joked and Riku sighed in relief.

"At least you still have some fight in you. I'm so glad you're safe. You don't know what I would've done if I lost you," Riku said, looking like he wanted to hug him again. Sora instinctively held up his arms but stopped them when Riku placed a hand on Sora's shoulder.

The brunet, frowned slightly, but patted his friend on his arm.

"Hey, I'm not that easy to take down," Sora said, giving a big grin. He just beat a giant, juggling shadow that shot out fireballs. That deserved a year worth of bragging rights.

"I still can't believe that Cat didn't even stick around to help you," Riku said, crossing his arms and frowning in distaste.

"He actually helped me out a lot. Without him, I don't think I would've made it," Sora said, gratefully. "Thanks Cheshire, wherever you are."

Sora turned around and missed Riku's frown.

"What's this?" There was a card floating right in front of them with rings of light around it. Sora looked hesitantly at Riku before taking it.

"On the outside, you would stand

If you don't have this in your hand," Sora read. _Well that's easy. A key. _

Without saying a word, he grasped Riku's hand. Riku looked at him questioningly but Sora didn't notice as he gently grasped the small key that he was unable to get at the beginning of his journey.

It glowed, engulfing them both in light. Sora felt the room spinning and only held onto Riku's hand tighter as the key sent them both out of here.

* * *

><p>I am horrible at action scenes. I tried being descriptive because I can see it all happening in my head but when I have to write it out in words, my mind goes blank. Yay for thesauruses. Sorry for Riku being a bit OOC. I just love a protective, overreacting Riku. Thank you to <strong>Alcorian<strong> and **KatchVivere** for reviewing(: I'll usually put previews to the next world at the very bottom but if you guys don't want to read it and want to be surprised, you can just ignore it.

* * *

><p><em>"Halt! Who goes there?" Riku instinctively pulled Sora behind him. A big, bulky man with a mustache and a beard, wearing almost all purple, came out from the trees and looked down at them with a sneering expression. Riku already didn't like him. <em>

_"Who're you?" Sora asked. The man arched his long thin eyebrow and scoffed._

_"I believe I asked you first. I don't know how you two kids managed to get to the New World. Were you stowaways on our ship?" _


	4. Got Your Heart in a Headlock

Wow, I did not think I would write this much for this chapter. I revised the last chapter, just to fix a few things. I thought my second chapter would be the longest one but I guess not. I was going to use Breathe In by Frou Frou for this chapter but changed it last minute xD The lyrics were so annoying for this song for the 'We're a pair' part. For one lyrics I searched up, it said 'wear.' For another it said 'where' and finally 'we're.' I think 'We're' fit the most but sorry if it's wrong.

Oh and Happy Halloween for those who celebrate it :D Dressing up as Alice in Wonderland this year. Goody, with this type of weather...

**Track 02:**

_Headlock- Imogen Heap_

* * *

><p><em>Distant flickering<em>

_It's greener scenery_

_This weather's bringing it all back again_

Riku groaned as he opened his green eyes, vision blurred. He tried pulling himself up but a heavy weight was on his stomach. Looking down, he smiled at the sight of Sora's head nuzzling into his stomach. Resisting the urge to run his hands through Sora's soft brown hair, he shook his friend lightly. When Sora didn't stir, Riku took the time to figure out where they were. Looking around, Riku noticed two things.

First, they weren't in Wonderland anymore, fortunately.

Second, they were in another unknown place. Unfortunately.

There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. Except for the white surroundings all around them. It was as if they didn't exist anymore. Riku spotted the game board near him.

Wondering if rolling the die would get them out, the teen hesitantly threw them onto the game board. Riku took a deep breath as his piece started to move forward four steps. Riku inwardly cursed. How did he manage to only get four?

"Through the forest, from the shadows, you run. Shadows only appear under the sun," Riku read. He was unaware that he had grasped Sora's hand when the board started shaking again.

Closing his eyes tightly, he found himself sucked into the game just as before.

Opening his eyes after they were taken from the world of nothing, Riku glanced around. They were in the forest of some place. Forests aren't a good place to get lost in but Riku bitterly guessed the game didn't care too much for their well-being. Looking up he could only see the small portion of the blue sky from the tree tops. The teen's blood rushed to his face as Sora's hand came up to grasp at his shirt. He would've laughed at how much of a deep sleeper his friend was if his heart wasn't about to leap out of his chest. The brunet seemed unaware that he was about to give his best friend a heart attack and, as if wanting to kill his friend, Sora mumbled something in Riku's chest before biting his shirt.

"Sora," Riku whispered almost frantically, as he tried moving out from under his friend. Sora responded by cuddling closer to the source of warmth. "Sora, buddy. Wake up!"

One gorgeous blue eye opened and peered at Riku from under his lashes.

"Hm?" The other eye soon opened as the boy picked up his head and looked around dazed. Riku tried not thinking about how cute he looked. "Where're we?"

"I dunno. The next place I guess," Riku said. Sora then noticed he was practically sprawled all over Riku's chest and quickly scrambled off of him. Riku smirked at the red that adorned Sora's cheeks. Then a thoughtful look overcame his face. "How did you know to grab it?"

Sora shrugged before answering. "I just read what was on the card and the key fit what it said. I didn't think too much on it." There was a moment of silence between them before Sora looked at his friend with a worried look.

"Riku? Are we ever going to get out of here?" Riku's mouth turned downwards as he looked at his friend's anxious face. He didn't want to give him false hope that they would ever make it back home but he didn't want to have Sora worry about anything.

"I'm sure we'll figure something out. I mean, it's you and me. There's nothing we can't do together right?" Riku asked, nudging Sora with his elbow. Sora gave a big smile and thumped his chest with his fist.

"Yeah! No silly game can take us down," Sora stated. He stood up and held out a hand to which Riku accepted. Sora couldn't really pull Riku up, making the bigger teen having to do most of the work, but he was grateful for it anyway.

Both teens were unaware of the warning on the other side of the game board.

_**ADVENTURERS BEWARE.**_

_Do not begin if you do not intend to finish._

_Or the exciting consequences will fail to vanish._

Riku placed his hands on his hips as he looked around once more.

"I guess we should start by getting out of this forest. Who knows what's crawling around here," Riku told Sora. Sora was too busy looking around the place.

"Wow, I've never seen so many trees in one spot before," Sora exclaimed. "It's so calm and nice here."

All they could hear was the swaying of leaves in the wind and the crickets around us. Sora's childlike expression made Riku smile fondly.

"Come on, we'll be stuck here forever looking at trees if we don't start moving now," Riku said, ruffling Sora's head before wrapping an arm around his neck and dragging him with him.

"Riku, let go," Sora grumbled. Riku just smiled and moved the arm from his neck to around Sora's shoulders. Sora sent a mock glare at his friend but Riku pretended to not notice.

"Halt! Who goes there?" Riku instinctively pulled Sora behind him. A big, bulky man with a mustache and a goatie, wearing maroon clothing, came out from the trees and looked down at them with a sneering expression. Riku already didn't like him. Sora tried moving out from behind Riku but Riku wouldn't have it.

"Who're you?" Sora asked with most of his face was covered by Riku's body. The man arched his long thin eyebrow and scoffed, tilted his hat back.

"I believe I asked you first. I don't know how you two _kids_ managed to get to the New World. Were you stowaways on our ship?" he asked with a noticeable British accent, frowning at them in distaste. Sora's wrinkled his nose at being called a kid.

"Uh, no, we're not stowaways. We don't even know who you are," Sora replied. "I'm Sora and this is my friend, Riku. We're just lost."

"Hmph. I am Governor Ratcliffe. I suppose I could use two more working able men," the man 'Ratcliffe' said, nodding to himself as he made the decision without even asking the two. Sora's face visibly brightened at being called a man but Riku's eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"Work for what?" Riku asked warily.

"Why, digging for gold of course!" the man responded as if it were obvious. Riku was about to tell him to forget about it but Sora's touch on his arm stopped him. He looked at his friend questioningly and Sora shook his head.

"We have to get out of this forest. Might as well follow him out first, you think?" Sora whispered. Riku sighed but nodded.

"Fine, we'll help you," Riku grumbled. The man smirked and turned around.

"Follow me then," was all he said, without even a glance back as he began to walk. Sora and Riku gave each other a look before walking behind him.

Finally they made it to what seemed to be a camp, with tents out and everything.

"Governor Ratcliffe!" a voice cried out. A skinny man with light brown hair tied back into a ponytail and a delighted look on his face came out from one of the tents.

"Hello, Wiggins," Ratcliffe replied with nonchalance. He took off his cloak and placed it on the small man who then proceeded to neatly fold it.

"Where have you been?" the man continued to talk as he followed in Ratcliffe's footsteps. "Everyone was worried about you!" Sora and Riku looked around the camp and no one really seemed that concerned.

"I thought I spotted John Smith in the forest and went on to follow him. Turns out it was just these two kids." Sora sighed at being reduced back to a kid again.

"Why hello!" Wiggins said, spotting the two. He ran forward and shook Riku's hand enthusiastically and then moved to Sora and began shaking his hand. Sora gave a weak smile as he tried tugging his hand back. "Nice to meet you both! Would you like something to eat?" Riku chuckled as he heard Sora's stomach growl.

"Feed them after I tell them what their job will be," Ratcliffe commanded. He gestured for them both to follow. Sora followed in disappointment with Riku close behind.

"As you can see, this place is nothing but trees and land. But I know better. I know what those savages are hiding._Gold_, and I bet lots of it," Ratcliffe said.

Riku didn't like the tone of this man. Actually he didn't like him at all.

"Where did you hear about them hiding gold?" he spoke up. The man chuckled and turned around to face him.

"It's blatantly obvious. People have gotten to it before," he said, waving it off. "Now get to work. I won't have slackers here or they'll be taken back to England for punishment." Two men walked forward and handed both Sora and Riku a shovel.

"Great, we have to do work in here too?" Sora groaned as he started to dig. Riku stopped him and laughed.

"Sora, we don't have to actually work. We just have to pretend to."

Sora looked confused for a moment before Wiggins popped out.

"Come! You two must be hungry," he said before tugging Sora's hand and gestured Riku to follow.

They both were given warm plates of food and a tent to rest in. It didn't seem that bad to stay there but they knew they had to leave quickly before Ratcliffe got suspicious.

"Okay, we have to leave quietly so no one will spot us," Riku whispered.

"But they're not asleep yet," Sora pointed out as he opened a tent flap. A group of men were crowded around a campfire, talking about some John Smith, whoever that was. "Shouldn't we go late at night?"

"It's fine. They won't see us if we're quick. Besides we can't stay here long," Riku said, pushing Sora gently out. "Go first. And meet me outside the camp grounds."

He trusted Sora to leave the camp stealthily. Riku glanced back and quickly grabbed a gun. He had sneaked it in earlier after he found it lying on the ground and figured he would bring it with him for protection in this place. Sora would've protested if he saw it, seeing as he was against violence. He liked that about his friend but he needed it to protect both of them. Riku figured the key would also aid them in this world but he wasn't entirely sure and he wasn't about to take any chances if Sora's life was at risk.

He quickly snuck out after a few minutes but a hand clamped down on his shoulder.

"And where do you think _you_ are going?" Riku cursed under his breath as he turned around with a calm look.

"I was thinking about exploring the land," he said. Ratcliffe raised an eyebrow before smirking.

"Good idea, Rick. You could find the whereabouts of the Indians on the way," he said before shooing him off.

"It's Riku," the teen muttered under his breath as he resisted the urge to throw a shoe at the Governor's head. He quickly stalked off to find Sora. He smiled to see Sora hiding behind a tree. His friend was never a good hide and seek player.

"Hm, wonder where Sora might be," he said out loud. He saw Sora flinch before his body shook in silent laughter. Riku rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Could he be…here?" Riku pounced on his friend and started tickling his sides.

"Ah! R-riku! S-stop that tickles!" Sora cried out, trying to crawl out from under him.

"Not a chance!" Riku said as he continued, mercilessly. Finally, Riku decided to give him a break and helped him up.

Sora's face quickly changed from laughing to glaring in a matter of seconds at him before bonking him on the head.

"Your surprise attacks suck," Sora stated. He walked on ahead, jumping over tree branches and roots.

Riku looked around, checking to see if anyone was following them or if anything suspicious was around.

"Riku what's that?" Riku turned to Sora and saw his blue eyes staring at the gun at his waist.

"Uh…"

"Riku? Why do you have a gun?" Sora asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"Come on, Sora. Did you really think we would make it out of here without protection?" He brushed past Sora but found him pulled back.

"You can't go around carrying that! It's dangerous. What if you hurt somebody?" Sora said. "And we already have protection. The keyblade remember?"

"Sora, that thing comes out at random times. We need to have a weapon at _all_ times."

"It comes out during times when we're in danger!" Sora corrected. His face turned solemn. "Would you actually kill someone?"

Riku's eyes softened at Sora's dejected face and gave him a small smile.

"Hey, come on. I wasn't intent on killing anybody here. I was just carrying it to look more like a threat. Come on, we should get going."

Sora nodded and followed Riku, but still had that wary look on his face as he eyed the gun.

"Where are we going exactly?" Sora asked.

"Uh," Riku stopped walking causing Sora to bump into him. "I don't know actually."

Sora opened his mouth and was ready with a teasing remark when suddenly something grabbed at his feet and pulled him down.

"Sora!" Riku grabbed Sora's hands before the flying shadow carried him off. They both tumbled down to the floor. Sora quickly jumped to his feet. Light cascaded from his body as the shining keyblade appeared in his hand. He was quick to bash the bird looking creature away. Its golden yellow eyes seemed to glare at them as more of them appeared.

Riku took out his gun and quickly took a shot at one. Instead of a screech or any other cry of pain from the creature, there was nothing. It was barely affected at all. The bullet seemed to have flown right through it.

Riku frowned. He guessed the key was the only method of fighting against them. Sora was trying to throw them all off but there were too many of them. Riku looked on helplessly as they all crowded his friend.

"Hey! Get away from him!" Riku yelled, charging in headfirst. A burst of light shone from his chest and a dark key formed itself in his hand.

"Huh?" Riku waved it around curiously. Sora looked at it curiously before smiling at his friend. Riku's heart hurt at the sight of Sora's face scratched up from the shadow's talons.

"Riku! You have a key too!" Riku gave a smile back before an angry expression replaced it. He quickly slashed through all the birds with the surge of energy running through his body. Soon they all were defeated. Sora slumped to the ground, exhausted. Riku followed as they both sat back to back on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Riku asked. He wanted to hit himself for not protecting Sora better.

"I'm fine, Riku. I can handle myself," Sora said with a bit of edge in his voice. Riku was about to apologize but suddenly he jumped up. Sora fell onto his back at Riku's sudden movement.

"Riku, what's wrong?"

"Shh. I think I heard something," Riku said. He picked up his gun and pointed towards the bushes. Sora stood up quickly beside him and put his hand over his friend's, lowering his gun.

"You don't even know how to use a gun!" he told him, trying to get him to lower it. Riku tried shoving Sora's arms away.

"I'll learn," was his response. "Who's there? Show yourself. Sora, get behind me."

"I'm not some little kid for you to tell me what to do!" Sora yelled. Riku lowered his gun at his exclamation. He turned his face towards his friend with a sad look in his eyes.

"Sora…I…"

"You two…aren't from around here." Riku whipped his head towards the bushes. A tall, slender woman was now standing in front of it. She had beautiful, long, raven-black hair, copper-colored skin, and was wearing a yellow dress that showed off one bare shoulder. Her dark brown eyes looked at the two boys with a curious expression.

"Who are you?" Sora asked, peering from behind Riku. The woman seemed hesitant in answering. "I'm Sora. This is Riku."

She gave a tentative smile before replying. "Pocahontas."

Sora looked at her with a confused expression.

"My name. It's Pocahontas," she said with a bigger smile. Riku guessed she smiled because they no longer looked like a threat. Well with Sora around, nothing could look like a threat.

"Nice to meet you," Sora chirped.

"Pocahontas, who are you talking to?" A tall, muscular man wearing a helmet, with blonde hair and blue eyes appeared. His expression was guarded for a moment before Pocahontas gave him a nod and a smile.

"Hello. I am John Smith. Are you Pocahontas's friends?" he asked them. The woman chose to answer for them.

"They're new to this place. This is Sora and Riku," she said, gesturing to them with a hand.

"Ah, I see. I don't recall seeing you on the ship. How did you get here?" John Smith asked.

"We're not entirely sure about that either," Riku said, almost sheepishly. He didn't want their new friends to think they were insane if they explained the whole board game situation.

"We were just going to go by the river. Care to join us?" Pocahontas asked. A grin broke out on Sora's face as he nodded enthusiastically. He glanced back at Riku with a hopeful look. Riku just smiled and ruffled Sora's hair. Normally, Riku wouldn't trust these strangers, but he couldn't bring it in himself to say no to that face.

_Great adventures_

_Faces in condensation_

_I'm going outside to take it all in_

They both followed John Smith and Pocahontas towards the river bend. Sora awed at the sight. The river was gorgeous. It was shimmering blue, so clear that he could see his own reflection perfectly.

"A canoe can only fit two people at a time but luckily we took two," Pocahontas said. "John and I can take one and you two can take the other."

"Where are we going?" Sora asked as he climbed into one canoe. Riku instinctively took the paddle, about to row the boat as he always did back home.

"Back to my village. We have to be careful not to be seen," Pocahontas answered as she began rowing.

"Why would we go there if we have to hide?" Sora asked, getting comfortable with his arms behind his head as Riku began rowing.

"Grandmother Willow will be able to help you. I've been meaning to visit her again. The winds are changing and I have a feeling something big is going to happen."

"Who's Grandmother Willow?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow. What an odd name, he thought. All he got in response was a secretive smile from the native.

As they reached the place, Sora quickly climbed out of the boat, ignoring Riku's warnings not to wander off and to be careful.

Pocahontas led the way and Riku couldn't help think that this place was truly beautiful and untouched by mankind. The trees were all so vividly green and the sky was the color of Sora's eyes. He spotted a waterfall not too far from the place. Then a punch from reality made him knew better. He knew it wouldn't stay this way forever.

Pocahontas and John Smith stepped onto a huge tree trunk stump in front of a huger willow tree. Sora and Riku glanced at each other before stepping on it beside her.

"Um…what now?" Sora asked. Pocahontas simply smiled and turned to the tree.

"Grandmother Willow," she called out. Suddenly, a face started forming from the tree. Riku had to hold onto Sora to make sure he didn't fall backwards into the water from shock.

"Pocahontas, hello dear! Good to see you again, John," the tree greeted. She then turned her face to the two shocked teens. Sora 'eeped' and tried backing away. "You brought new friends. And who might these two be?"

"This is Sora and Riku," the raven-haired woman said, patting both their backs. Sora was still shocked but Riku recovered from it.

"Nice to meet you," he said. The tree nodded in greeting and then turned to Sora.

"Come child. Don't be afraid," she said as she brought a vine forward.

"B-but you're a talking tree! Trees don't normally talk do they? I have for one have _never_ seen a talking tree. And-and-I…."

"Hush, sweetie. It's alright. Here, take my vine." Sora gave a worried look back at Riku who gave a comforting smile and a nudge forward. Sora slowly reached out a hand and took the vine.

"Whoa!"

The vine pulled him upwards with other vines accompanying it and it lifted him up higher. The brunet quickly grabbed onto the vine with both hands, both with an iron grip. Sora started to freak out from the height but then he saw how everything looked from a higher altitude. Butterflies and birds chirped around. A gust of wind blew around him. Outstretching a hand, Sora felt a sudden lightness in him. Laughing lightly as a butterfly landed on his head, he looked down at Riku and the others.

Riku gave an encouraging grin and a wave as Pocahontas and John Smith smiled. Sora shyly waved back when the vines lifting him up stopped. They reached the top of the treetops. His blue eyes widened as he saw how big this whole place was. Acres and acres of land and trees and the huge ocean with the clear blue waters. And the sky...the sky was all sorts of colors. Pink, purple, orange, blue. Sure they had sunsets back at home but they never looked as vivid as they did now. Sora was so fascinated that he didn't realize the vines were slowly bringing him back. Noticing the sky disappearing, Sora looked down with a disappointed look.

"How was that?" Grandmother Willow asked with a grin. Sora returned one of his own.

"It was amazing!" he answered. A vine reached up and pinched his cheek.

"You are such a cutie!" she complimented. Riku grumbled and folded his arms. Sora would've smacked his hand away if he had done that. Not that he would ever…

The wind started picking up speed as the leaves blew all around them. Riku glanced behind him, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach.

"Grandmother, these two young men want to return home. Do you know what to do?" she asked. Riku decided to tell their story, hoping they wouldn't find it to be that weird. But hey, what could be weirder than a talking tree? The tree scrunched her old face for a moment.

"Yes. You both have the light."

"The light? You mean the key?" Sora spoke up. The tree nodded.

"You see, boys, not everything in the world is nice and peaceful. That is obvious. There will always be arguments, disagreements, violence, and war. But there are people who are willing to stand up for peace for everyone."

Riku looked confused for a moment. "Is there going to be one here? What should we do?"

"There was this one saying…what was it again? Ahh, keep your friends close, and your enemies closer," Grandmother Willow said, giving a wink. Riku looked over at Sora.

"I guess we have to go back to camp, then."

"Yeah," Sora muttered. Riku knew Sora was uncomfortable going back to camp and to be honest, he was too. There was something off about the whole atmosphere around that Governor guy. That uneasy feeling was coming back.

"We'll take you back," Pocahontas offered.

"No it's alright. We know the way back," Riku said, giving a small smile. "Thanks for everything. We'll give you guys any new information from inside the camp if necessary."

_You say 'too late to start, got your heart in a headlock,'_

_I don't believe any of it_

_You say 'too late to start, got your heart in a headlock,'_

_You know you're better than this_

They both walked down to the boats when Sora tapped Riku's shoulder. Riku gave a nod at him but kept walking forward. They were about to walk past that waterfall they passed by earlier.

"Hey, stop for a minute. I wanna take a swim," Sora said, pulling Riku to a halt.

"A swim? Sora, we don't have any extra clothing. You might get sick and who knows when or if we even make it own. I can't have you getting a fever in this place." Sora rolled his eyes and waved it off as he took off his shirt. Riku quickly averted his eyes.

"I'll be fine. We've done this a million times back at the islands," Sora said as he continued stripping down. Riku tried not to look but he couldn't help taking a few peeks here and there.

"Why now?" Riku asked.

"The water looks great here. I can't wait to try it out. And to be honest, I've been feeling a bit homesick," Sora said as he dipped a toe in the water to test it, "Come with me."

"I think I'll pass," Riku grumbled. Sora gave a smile and shrug as he dove in. Riku jumped back as water splashed out. The brunet's head popped back out as he shook his head. Droplets of water rolled down his cheeks and the tips of his brown locks. A joyous smile spread across his face as his bright blue eyes stared up at Riku.

"The water's great!" he exclaimed, floating on his back. Riku shook his head and smiled affectionately at his friend. He was glad the water took his mind off of things. Riku had half a mind to join him but he wasn't sure he'd be able to control himself. So he just sat at the edge of water and sat there watching Sora enjoy himself. Sora was always a good swimmer, knowing all sorts of techniques. The butterfly, breaststroke, the doggy paddle. Riku chuckled to himself at that.

He noticed Sora got out of the water and onto the rocks on the other side. The waterfalls got smaller where Sora was. His friend was shivering. Riku quickly grabbed Sora's shirt and shorts as he hopped from rock to rock to get to where he was.

"Here, before you catch a cold," Riku said, handing Sora his clothing. Sora took it gratefully as he quickly put it on. Riku could still make the outline of his curves as the shirt clung onto Sora's wet body. The silver-head tried looking away but he was entranced. He moved a step closer as Sora started putting his shorts on. That sight made Riku want to just…do something. Anything really. He shook his head, trying to chase those thoughts away.

"Riku?" Sora asked hesitantly, unsure as to why Riku moved closer. Sora's azure eyes looked so unusually bright and clear under the shadow of the rocks. Riku wanted to kiss him. His aquamarine eyes shifted from his bright blue eyes to his soft pink lips, parted and panting from the swimming earlier. Both their breaths left out puffs of white, mingling together from the cold.

"Sora…I…" Riku started. He didn't continue. With the words he wanted to say, caught in his throat, he lifted up two pale hands and rubbed Sora's cold shoulders. He smiled at how Sora shivered under his touch, unsure if it was him that caused that reaction or the cold, but it gave him a warm feeling anyway. The water continued dripping down Sora's face, trailing downwards to his tan neck and collarbone. Riku wanted to wipe the water from his cheeks, wanted to wrap his arms around his frame, _wanted to so bad._ Snapping out of it, he saw Sora's questioning glance, making him take a huge step back with red evident on his cheeks.

"It's getting cold. We should head back," Riku murmured embarrassedly, moving away. Sora frowned slightly but nodded, feeling oddly disappointed. He followed Riku a few feet away, head bent, as they made their way back to camp.

_We're a different pair_

_Just something out of step_

_Throw a stranger an unexpected smile_

"Where have you been?" Ratcliffe asked.

"Sorry, we got lost. Still not used to the surroundings I guess," Riku said, without as much as a glance to the angry governor. Sora simply nodded.

"Why are you wet?" Ratcliffe asked, looking at Sora, his sleazy eyes moving up and down his body. Riku narrowed his eyes and moved a bit in front of Sora.

"I accidentally fell in the water on the way back to the canoes."

"Well did you find anything?" the obese man asked, glaring down at the two. Riku just took out a rag and started to clean his gun.

"I didn't see any Natives," Riku lied. "And I doubt that there's any gold around here. Maybe you should just give up," Riku said. Ratcliffe's face turned so red, Riku was afraid he would blow up.

"Uh, what Riku is trying to say is…maybe you should search somewhere else that's not here. We looked everywhere. I don't think you're looking in the right place," Sora said, trying to not get them kicked out of the camp.

Riku didn't like the smile that appeared on Ratcliffe's face.

"Ah. And I suppose Riku isn't hiding anything is he?" Riku kept his eyes hidden under his silver bangs. "Hm…I suppose yes. We are looking in the wrong places, Sara."

"It's _Sora_!"

"The Indians _must_ be hiding it! I'm certain of it. Those savages…I shall destroy this land and take their gold!" Sora and Riku gave each other fearful looks.

After Ratcliffe disappeared, Riku grabbed Sora's hand and they both ran out the camp.

"Shoot, I didn't think he would actually go that far!" Sora cursed himself. "I'm so sorry, Riku."

"It wasn't your fault. I'm pretty sure he would eventually do it anyway. We have the warn them!"

"B-but how?"

"I have to go into the village and tell whoever's in charge," Riku muttered, putting on his cap and going onto the canoe. Sora was about to climb in after but Riku placed a hand on his shoulder.

"No, you're not going to come with me. It's dangerous. They might attack me because I might look like a threat."

"What! Then all the more reason to go with you!" Sora shoved Riku's hand off and tried getting in but Riku shoved him this time.

"Sora, no! Stay here. You can try to prevent this. I know you're worried but I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt. Come on, the sooner we cooperate, the faster we can get home," Riku said, voice getting considerably softer at the end of his sentence. Sora still looked angry but his eyes softened as well.

"Fine but I'll never forgive you if you don't return you know," he muttered with a smile. Riku ruffled Sora's hair and started rowing the boat away giving one last wave to Sora.

Sora stayed at the edge of the land until Riku was out of sight. The brunet was angry that Riku always felt like he should do all the work himself. His face heated up as he remembered their little moment back at the waterfalls.

What was that anyway? Sora felt something strange in his stomach. At first he passed it off as hunger but he had liked the feeling he got when Riku's warm hands were on his cold skin. It sent shivers up and down his spine and made his breath hitch. He wanted to feel it again. He also expected something more. Sora snapped out of it. He shouldn't be thinking about all the 'what if's.' Riku could be in danger. He might never see his best friend again. Determined to find him, Sora rushed forwards into the woods after him but was pulled back harshly with a hand clamped over his mouth.

"Ah, well, well, well. What do we have here?" a voice breathed into his ear. Sora cringed as he tried writhing away. Ratcliffe let out a gruff chuckle. "I knew you brats were up to no good. Meddling isn't good for you, you know."

Sora tried struggling away from his grasp as he clawed Ratcliffe's fat hands but another hand gripped his brown hair back, painfully. Sora whimpered from the pain but his eyes held a fire that glared straight at the cruel man.

"Oh stop that. You think your cute little angry look will stop me? You'll be good bait for that other fool. Thinking you can outsmart me. Ha!" Sora was strung along helplessly as Ratcliffe dragged him somewhere unknown. Where was that damn key when you needed it?

Riku quickly got off the boat and ran towards the place where Grandmother Willow was. Maybe she could tell him where the village is. Trudging along the path, he noticed the area looked considerably darker. It was more calming and bright when he came before.

Passing by the waterfall, a glum look fell on Riku's face. He was so close to Sora back there. If they were any bit closer, the brunet could've heard his heart racing. He had to be careful not to do that again. Sora was close to finding out his deepest secret. They would never make it back with all the awkward tension surrounding them. The troubled teen was just about to make it to the wise tree when he heard a gunshot.

Without a second thought, he spun all the way around and followed the sound the shot came from. Crouching low, inch by inch, he came from behind the bushes. Peeking through, he saw a man floating in the water. Pocahontas was kneeling beside the man, tears running down her cheeks. Riku's eyes widened. Was the guy…dead? Riku clamped a hand over his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

Destiny Islands was always a peaceful place. There were never any crimes except from the occasional stealing of goods from bakeries as a prank but nobody ever cared for those. Seeing this made him feel sick. This was just a game wasn't it? What if he or…oh God, what if _Sora_…

Riku tried to calm himself and peeking through the bushes again. Pocahontas started yelling at a man Riku recognized. He was someone back at the camp! The name slipped his mind but the man ran after John yelled at him to go. Riku quickly dove behind a tree as that man rushed through the bushes past him. Probably to run back to camp. He was about to step out when Native Americans jumped out into the clearing and attacked John Smith. The blonde man struggled before letting them drag him off. Riku narrowed his eyes. He was innocent.

Naively, he jumped out and attacked one of the Natives.

"Stop it! He's innocent!" he yelled, pushing one of them down. Another one jumped at him but Riku quickly side-stepped him. He flipped one over his shoulder and tried summoning the key. It never came however and he was all but smacked across his face and had his arms bound behind his back. After being caught, Riku admitted that wasn't one of his brighter ideas and seemed like something Sora would do.

"John, why didn't you just tell them who really killed that man?" Riku asked. The Natives shoved at his back harshly as a gesture to stop talking and walk quickly.

"What good would that do?" John answered with a humorless grin. It looked so sad that it got Riku depressed in an instant.

They both were tied back-to-back to a wooden pole in a tent. John Smith had a death sentence at sunrise for the death of Kocoum, who Riku found out was actually Pocahontas's fiancé. Riku wasn't sure what his own punishment would be but he didn't want to find out. His head shot up at the sound of the tent flap opening.

Pocahontas stood there with a grave look on her face as she looked at John. She kneeled down in front of him and took his face in her hands.

"John…oh this is terrible," she cried. Riku wished he was elsewhere. This seemed too intimate and private for him to be here, witnessing it.

"Hey, shh. It's alright," he whispered to her. Riku found it funny how he was comforting her when he was the one sentenced to die. Sora's face found its way to his mind. He would've done the same for him. Pretend everything was alright just so his friend would smile again and not have the burden of caring about his well-being.

"This wouldn't have ever happened if we never met," she said, her voice wavering. John shook his head and gave her a smile.

"I'd rather die tomorrow than live a hundred years without knowing you," he said to her. Pocahontas looked ready to cry again and instead of answering, she gave him a kiss. It was much too brief but it was sweet. Riku mentally stored that quote in the back of his mind.

She left shortly after that. Riku sighed and cursed under his breath. This wasn't fair. It was all a misunderstanding. He couldn't help feeling like he let Sora down somehow. He almost chuckled under his breath at how Sora would react to seeing him tied to a pole and with a possible death sentence. The brunet would probably cry and tell him what an idiot he is. Hell, he would probably tell the Natives to have him take his place. Then Riku would call him the idiot and would wish the rope would fall away just so he could wipe the tears from his face. Riku frowned miserably. Thinking about Sora only made him sadder. He really wished he could see him at least one last time.

"So…how do you think we'll get out of here?" Riku spoke up. John didn't answer for a moment. Riku assumed he had been crying but then he heard his voice.

"I don't think we can. Us getting out wouldn't be the end of our problems. Ratcliffe is still intent on tearing this place apart for the gold."

"You know Ratcliffe?" Riku asked.

"Of course. I used to work for him. I had the best experience at exploring and fighting 'savages.' Only reason he kept me there. It's funny how everything changed when I met Pocahontas."

"Yeah," was all Riku said. He wanted to say how everything changed when he met Sora. How he used to be the lonely kid nobody talked to and that kid who everyone was afraid of. How Sora, the brightest, friendliest kid that everybody loved, came up to him with an offer of half his peanut-butter and jelly sandwich and asked if he could play with him. He wouldn't be the kid everyone praised and who everyone looked up to if it weren't for his best friend. Riku chose not to say it though. It was a private moment, only shared between Sora and himself.

"You could get out you know," Smith said. "I'm sure they only want Kocoum's killer, not you." Riku let out a laugh.

"Yeah, and be a coward and leave. No way," Riku said. "Besides then you'd be free too because you're not his killer. I'll see to it that they won't kill you. Besides, I know Sora will find a way to save us. I don't know how he manages it but he does."

"You two are pretty close huh?" John commented. Riku unconsciously smiled.

"Yeah, guess you could say that."

_With big intention_

_Still posted at your station_

_Always on about the day it should have flied_

"What are you going to do with me?" Sora asked, trying to get his hands from the tight rope Ratcliffe used to bound his wrists together. His clothes were still wet and he felt a bit lightheaded. _Now isn't the best time to be interrogated_, Sora thought bitterly.

"I want some answers. And if you don't get it, you will be punished!" As if proving it, he took out his sword and pointed it to Sora's neck. Sora looked up fearlessly at him, eyes narrowed. "This is perfect. I'll have your friend back and then I'll get him to kill the chief for your safety. Now speak, where is your friend now?"

"He's not coming back! So your plan won't work!" Sora said defiantly. Ratcliffe slowly put his sword back into its pouch and held Sora's chin tightly. Sora winced at the grip but was forced to keep eye contact with the man.

"Oh really? He's just going to leave little you here with me?" he asked with a lecherous grin on his pudgy face. Sora's eyes widened as the man moved in closer.

"Sir!" Ratcliffe turned around as Sora breathed a sigh of relief.

"What is it? I told you no interruptions!" Sora shivered. He wouldn't know what would've happened if Wiggins didn't walk in.

"Thomas claims that Smith is captured! They're planning to kill him at sunrise! Riku's captured as well!" Wiggins exclaimed with a panicked face. Ratcliffe's angry face morphed into an evil grin. Sora's eyes widened at Riku's name.

"R-riku?" Ratcliffe grinned at Sora's shock.

"Hm…I believe this is going rather well," he laughed to himself. It was more of bark then anything. Sora continued to try and get his hands out but Ratcliffe whipped his heads toward him.

"You! You're coming with me," he grumbled. He grabbed onto the back of Sora's shirt and lifted him to his feet, dragging him along.

"Men!" he called out to which all the men at camp looked at him with sad expressions. "Look what happened! Smith trusted these savages and they turned their backs on him and are to execute him. We must attack!" All the men yelled in agreement and raised their guns.

"W-what's going on?" Sora asked. Ratcliffe turned to face him with a smirk.

"You'll see that I can take someone's land and that there really is no way to stop me."

_You've been walking_

_You've been hiding_

_And you look half-dead all the time_

"Get out," a gruff Native American man said. Well, seeing as Riku didn't understand a word they were saying, he guessed that's what he said.

The man pulled John to his feet, untangling the rope from the pole and leading him outside. He nodded at the other Native and the other man walked forward to do the same thing to Riku.

"Where are you taking us?" Riku asked. He got a grunt in reply. Riku groaned. How were they going to explain their innocence and that violence isn't the answer if either side couldn't understand each other?

He was standing with all the other Native American tribes. They were all shouting at John, seeing as everybody believed him a killer of their people. Riku frowned as he tried scanning the crowd. Each time he looked, he hoped to see the spiky brown hair and encouraging eyes of his friend. A rough hand gripped his hair and forced him to face forward. John was placed on top of a rock. The skies were turning a reddish hue, indicating sunrise was close. Riku bit his lip, nervously. He felt so helpless and he hated it.

Suddenly the rope fell away and the familiar feeling of the key fell onto his hand.

Riku quickly elbowed the man behind him as he stood there in shock and raced up the rocky hill. The chief was lifting his club, about to strike John to death.

"No!" he yelled, running towards them.

"RIKU, STOP!" Surprisingly, Riku did stop. He had to use an enormous amount of strength to do so. He was so focused on the chief about to kill John that he blocked everything else. He quickly turned at the sound of his best friend.

"Sora!" Sora's hands were tied behind his back with Ratcliffe pulling his head back and another hand on Sora's neck. Riku glared venomously at Ratcliffe for laying a hand on Sora like that.

"Enough interruptions!" the chief exclaimed. Riku wasn't sure how he suddenly understood what he said. He lifted the enormous club again and Riku knew he wouldn't be able to make it in time.

"John!" a voice screamed out. Riku's head started to hurt again with so much going around. Pocahontas jumped in front of John, shielding his body. The chief stopped immediately, but the strength he put into the death-inducing weapon and the strength needed to stop it, made him almost fall backwards.

"Move out of the way, Pocahontas," his voice strict and cold demanded.

"Father! I love him," she cried, breathing hard. Her father's eyes were hard as he looked between the two.

"You can't possibly…he's the enemy!" he yelled.

"If you're going to kill him, then you'll have to kill me too," she stated, eyes staring determinedly back at Powhatan.

"Love is more powerful than hatred, don't you think?" Riku spoke up. The chief looked conflicted. Here was the man who killed his daughter's fiancé and one of the tribe's most honored and brave warrior. He had to kill him, didn't he?

"Father, this won't solve any conflicts," Pocahontas said. The chief turned to see all the tribes looking up at him for his decision. His choice and judgment right now determined everybody else's. The Governor looked at him with a sinister smile, pulling Sora's head back even more, making him groan in pain.

Powhatan diverted his attention to the crowd. "My daughter has wisdom beyond her years. We have followed a path of hatred, against everything we learned. We are all taught that life is to be treasured and cared for. This man will not be executed."

Riku let out a sigh of relief. The tribes all raised their hands above their heads and cheered. Pocahontas let out a joyous laugh held up John's face and kissed him as she untied his wrists.

"Nonsense! You fools!" Ratcliffe barked out. He turned to his men. "Shoot them now!"

The man Riku remembered as the man that shot Kocoum spoke out, "Why would we? They're letting Smith go!"

"Give us the gold!" he yelled at Powhatan. The chief looked confused.

"What gold? We do not have any of that here!" he said back. The governor looked ready to blow up.

"Fine. If you won't give me the gold, then I will destroy this whole place!" Sora looked at him with fear in his eyes. Riku dashed down the rocks in attempt to get closer to Sora.

The sun rose up high in the air, increasing the size of the shadows. The dark shadows slowly started to rise from the ground and encased Ratcliffe's feet as it crawled around his body. The man's eyes glowed yellow as spirals of black sparked around him. A dark creature appeared before him with the same pair of eyes, all covered in black. It resembled a horse but twice the size of an actual one. Sharp, white teeth gave a large creepy grin on what was left of Ratcliffe's face.

"Shit, Sora!" Riku yelled, jumping in hopes of attacking Sora to the floor. To his surprise, his body hit nothing as he slid across the ground. He groaned in pain as he rolled onto his back. Looking around, Riku saw everybody was gone. It was only him now.

The key quickly formed in his right hand. Giving an experimental swing he quickly jumped up as the Ratcliffe shadow shot beams of darkness at him. The horse creature he was on charged towards him, knocking into him hard. Riku was slammed again a boulder. He heard a crack but he knew nothing was broken…yet. Riku jumped out of the way as it charged again. He quickly blasted that Blizzard spell which Sora taught him before at camp. The shadows just seemed to encase the spell.

Riku wasn't sure how much longer he could run. He quickly hid behind a large boulder to catch his breath. Wincing, he looked down to see a sharp thorn entangling his legs.

Cutting them off with the key, he ran to the safety of the forest.

"Come out here, little boy. I'll see to it that you are removed permanently," Ratcliffe said, his voice much lower with an echo. The horse galloped forwards towards him to which Riku barely dodged. An intense pain slashed through his arm.

Riku quickly dashed away when a vine caught onto his leg again. Riku was about to slash it again but he was pulled so quickly, his head got caught in a whiplash.

He opened his eyes to see Grandmother Willow.

"You don't know how glad I am to see you," Riku groaned out, holding his arm that got slashed as the horse ran past him.

"Here darling," the tree said soothingly as a vine wrapped around his arm. An ethereal glow shone around them and the wound immediately felt better.

"Thanks so much. Do you have any idea on how to beat him?" he asked, out of breath.

"I don't usually hand out this spell but you must have a lot of power to use it," Grandmother Willow warned. "It might backfire so you must be careful."

"I will."

"This is Thunder. Use it wisely," she said as her face morphed back into a tree. Riku looked cautiously at the key. He looked back and quickly jumped back in shock to see the horse devil charging at him. Ratcliffe still had that demonic look in his eyes as he held up a shadowy gun. Bullet after bullet shot at him. Riku blocked some with his key but some still managed to hit him. They weren't real bullets but they had the pain of one. Riku winced as he rested on one knee.

"Thunder!" he yelled. Sparks shot from the sky, clouds darkening, as the streaks of lightning shot down and attacked the horse and its rider. Riku widened his eyes as some of the sparks shot at him. He jumped out of the way in time but it was a risky spell.

He didn't have enough experience to fully control it. The horse seemed to have snapped out of its paralysis as it came forward again. A huge hoof nearly took off his head.

"You can never run!" Ratcliffe cried out, now taking out a huge sword and slicing down. Riku hit it away with his key, the sword flying from his hand. It dug into the ground below.

Riku used an enormous amount of strength and bashed the side of Ratcliffe's face.

The owner fell off as the horse cried out. Riku's eyes widened. So the horse was as affected as the owner. Then he had to take out Ratcliffe first. The man had rolled over onto his stomach, gasping for air.

He charged towards him again with his weapon high above his head.

"Wrong move, boy," the man grinned from below. Shadows burst from his body and into Riku's sending him hundreds of feet back. His back hit a tree trunk, sending the breath out of him.

He had to keep his weapon close to him. That was such a rooky mistake. How many times had he chastised Sora for doing that? This wasn't a good day. But he had to make it. Sora would kill him if he didn't. Riku had to give a weak grin at that.

He got back onto his two feet, holding his sword in front.

"Thunder!" he yelled, focusing all his attention on Ratcliffe.

"Agh!" A million bolts shot through his body, temporarily paralyzing him. Riku charged forwards, elbowing him in the stomach to further his paralysis and punching in fully in the face. Then with his key he bashed the hilt in his mouth and slashed him in the stomach with the blade.

The horse in the back was shaking with shocks running through its entire body. It whinnied in pain. Riku almost felt bad but he knew it wasn't the time to feel guilty. He rushed forward and slashed through the horse as if taking it out of its pain. The horse seemed to be having a convulsion before disappearing into shadows.

Ratcliffe hissed and spat, amounts of black substances spewing out of his mouth. Riku frowned in disgust and quickly made the finishing move.

"Thunder!" he yelled once more, pointing the key at him. This time, lightning bolts flew from his key, forming together and drilling through Ratcliffe.

The Ratcliffe shadow ghost let out a pitiful wail as it dispersed into nothing.

Riku let out a sigh, glad that was over. He fell to his knees and took a deep breath. A simple card fell in front of him, glowing white around the small paper. Riku took it and was about to read it when unexpectedly, two arms wrapped around his waist. Riku almost jumped in shock but relaxed when he felt warm tears soak his back.

"It's okay, Sora. I'm fine," he said, soothingly, voice calm. Somehow, feeling Sora there, made him feel as if he didn't just fight the former governor's Heartless and his gigantic horse demon.

Sora just nodded into his back and then laughed in relief. Riku turned around to face his friend and wiped his tears away, just like when he thought of Sora back when he was captured. Sora gave another relieved smile as Riku wiped his tear-filled cheeks with his thumb. Riku wrapped his arms around Sora again, clutching him towards him.

"Sora, you know this is just the beginning right?" he said. There were going to be more painful battles and horrible things to witness. Sora just nodded into his shoulder. Riku ran his hands through his brown hair as he pulled back.

"Promise me that whatever happens to me, you'll try and finish the game," he said. Sora looked taken aback and glared at him.

"Are you crazy? You think that after all we've been through that I'm going to let anything happen to you? Yeah right," Sora said, punching Riku in the arm. Riku winced and was glad he punched his good arm but smiled nonetheless.

"Pocahontas!" Riku and Sora turned to see John Smith calling out Pocahontas's name from the high cliffs. "Pocahontas! Where are you?"

All the Natives had returned to the spot they originally were in before Ratcliffe's transformation but Pocahontas was nowhere to be seen. Powhatan also started looking around for his daughter but it was as if she just disappeared. Vanished into thin air.

"Where could she have gone?" Sora asked, turning to face Riku.

"Not sure. Maybe Grandmother Willow will know," Riku said, wincing as he tried standing. Sora quickly came to his aid, throwing Riku's arm over his shoulders and using his hands to steady his waist. Riku, even now, couldn't help but relish in the way Sora's hands were touching him. He felt like such a creep but he guessed his head got hit more than once which made it acceptable.

"Wait!" Sora turned to see John Smith running towards them with Powhatan behind him.

"Please, help me find her. She means more to me than anything. She taught me to cherish life and to open my eyes," he pleaded. Powhatan had a sad look on his face but still managed a smile.

"You helped save us. And for that I thank you. I shouldn't have had my hatred overshadow my judgment and for that I apologize. Thank you for bringing peace back into my village. If it's not too much to ask, please help me bring my daughter back." Smith took Sora's hand and placed a compass in it.

"That could help you in a time of need. Thanks for everything you two," Smith said.

"It was nice to meet new friends. We'll get your daughter back, Chief Sir!" Sora said, as they both said their farewells. Powhatan had to laugh at that before giving a final wave to the keybearers.

_Monitoring you, like machines do_

_You've still got it_

_I'm just keeping an eye_

With Sora practically dragging Riku to Grandmother Willow's place, the kind and always willing to help woman's face came into view.

"I knew you could do it and coming out with no more than a few scratches and bruises," Grandmother Willow exclaimed. Riku tried smiling but his side hurt a lot more than before. The tree wrapped her arms around Riku and healed him once more. Riku smiled at her gratefully. Sora opened his mouth and was about to speak when cut off.

"I know what you're about to ask me. I'm sorry. I don't know where Pocahontas has disappeared to. That is for you two to find out. Now, you two don't have much time. Riku, did you read the clue for your out-of-world link?"

Riku remembered about the card and quickly took it out of his pocket.

"It runs forever but doesn't move at all. It doesn't have a throat or mouth but has a mighty roaring call," Riku read out loud. He turned to Sora who gave him a smile. The brunet turned back to Grandmother Willow.

"Thank you for everything, really. We couldn't have done it without you," Sora said. The tree gave out a hearty laugh.

"Oh hush, you cutie. I'm going to miss you two. Now go, before it's too late!" Sora quickly grabbed Riku's hand with a final goodbye to the tree, he led Riku away.

"Wait, Sora, where are we going? Did you figure out the riddle?" Riku asked as Sora kept tugging.

"Yeah, I know just the answer." Riku remembered the familiar surroundings and found himself back at the waterfall. Memories of Sora being there, cheeks flushed with that uncertain smile on his face, water slowly dripping down his face to his collarbones, looking tired yet content, flashed through his mind, making his hand a bit sweaty. Sora didn't seem to mind and only gripped his hand harder.

"The waterfall," he said as he saw Riku's confused look. "That's the answer."

"Oh…"

Sora and Riku jumped from rock to rock until they were right under the gigantic falls.

"What now?" Riku asked. "You sure this is the answer to the card?"

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying I might be wrong?"

"No, of course not," Riku said with a teasing smile. Sora smiled as they both stayed there for a little while.

"Maybe we should go directly under it," Sora stated.

"What? No, that's stupid."

"Come on, it's a little water. Don't be such a worrywart."

"I'm not…"

Sora dragged Riku a little bit more to the edge. The shorter teen took the other's hands in his and took a deep breath. Water splashed onto them, making them both shiver. Sora laughed as he looked at Riku.

"Your hair looks funny wet," Sora commented. Riku wrinkled his nose but laughed as well. The water seemed to increase pressure and the two boys found themselves soaking wet. Soon, they both felt a certain glow engulf them and soon they both found themselves lifting off the ground.

"Hey, Sora. You were right," Riku said, giving Sora a warm smile to which the brunet returned two fold as they both shot into the sky.

* * *

><p><em>(how can you lose?)<em>

_Afraid to start, got your heart in a headlock_

_but I don't believe any of it_

_You say 'too late to start, got your heart in a headlock,'_

_You know you're better than this_

* * *

><p>Wow I still can't believe this is over 11,000 words. Sorry it's so long. As always, let me know if there are any mistakes. I don't remember if I replied to my reviewers so I'll do that here.<p>

Thanks to **Ruby Warrior Girl 730**, **KatchVivere**, and **Alcorion** for reviewing :D And to everyone who favorites, story alerts, and all that. Much appreciated. I think everyone enjoys protective!Riku at least a little bit xD

_"Hm, what do you think this place is?" Sora asked as he looked around._

_"Is…is this a cage?" Riku uttered as he got a good glance. "Oh God…"_

_"What is it Riku?" Sora asked, tilting his head at the sight of the look of panic on his friend's face._

_"Sora...WHY ARE WE SO SMALL?"_


	5. Just For Love Pt 1

Biggest writer's block since this story started x_x Weird since I already have the ending planned out for this world but I didn't know how to actually get there.

The song for this chapter: Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen.

Haha I kid, I kid. But seriously that song has been stuck in my head for the past week. And I think I'm just going to put Frou Frou/Imogen Heap songs for the rest of the chapters. It just gives me that feel.

**Track 03:**

_Just For Now- Imogen Heap_

* * *

><p><em>Just for now<em>

_Just for now_

_Just for now_

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Sora grumbled as he rubbed the spot his head hit the ground on. If there _was_ a ground to fall on. His blue eyes flicked from side to side at the blank surroundings. A part of him wanted to freak out but freaking out would do him no good. It wouldn't take them both out of the middle of nowhere and it certainly wouldn't bring him back home.

Sora looked over at Riku. His best friend was glaring at the game as if that would fix everything. Sora dragged the board in front of him and took a deep breath. He hoped to get a high number but he wasn't sure if the higher you roll, the harder the place you get transported to. That was a risk he was willing to take however. The higher the roll, the faster they can finish.

He flung the dice onto the board and both friends had their eyes concentrated on the number. Six. Sora grinned and held up two hands to his friend for high fives. Riku gladly reciprocated.

"The power to believe is stronger than you think. To grasp it, you might just have to shrink."

Sora raised an eyebrow at that.

"Alright, now how many more spaces…" Riku started but before he even started to count, the board forcefully dragged them in.

Riku gripped tightly onto Sora as they both spiraled into the next world. Surprisingly it was a light drop and neither got shaken up too bad. The curious brunet wiggled out of Riku's grasp and stood up to look around.

"Hm, what do you think this place is?" Sora asked. He couldn't really see anything save for the metal bars surrounding them. Riku stood up slowly afterwards.

"Is…is this a cage?" Riku uttered as he got a good glance. "Oh God…Sora?"

"What is it Riku?" Sora asked, tilting his head at the sight of the look of panic on his friend's face. Riku spun around to grasp Sora on the shoulders.

"WHY ARE WE SO SMALL?"

Sora's face went from surprised to confused in less than a second.

"What do you mean?" Riku spun Sora around. His blue eyes took a slow look around. Indeed they were a lot smaller than their regular size. "Wow." Outside the cage was a living room. A humongous one at that. Everything was ten times their size.

"Yeah wow! How do they expect us to—whoa!"

The cage tilted backwards sending Riku flying backwards. Sora quickly outstretched a hand to which the bigger teen grabbed and started pulling himself up, but the whole cage around them shook again as it was being lifted. The brunet was thrown forward, resulting them both being knocked down.

"Earthquake?" Sora questioned as he held tightly onto Riku's arm in fear.

"Um…I don't think so," Riku answered, pointing a finger at the reason for the earthquake.

A very beautiful woman with blonde hair tied back into a ponytail smiled with her warm blue eyes at them.

"Why hello there," she said sweetly. "Sorry for the disturbance." Sora turned to Riku beside him, to which the older teen responded by shaking his head, but the brunet was too friendly to ignore anybody.

"Hi," he said, slowly and unsurely.

"You don't look like you're Jaq's friends. Let me just let you out," she said as she set the cage down. Sora and Riku let out sighs of relief. They were about to walk out when suddenly a mouse walked through the opening. The rodent seemed to be the same size as them.

"You're a huge mouse," Sora said out loud. He clamped his hand over his mouth, wondering if that sounded rude. The mouse only chuckled.

"Name's Jaq-Jaq but you can call me Jaq!" he said, brightly. "You two are?"

"I'm Sora and this is my friend, Riku," Sora said, patting Riku's shoulder.

"Not normal mousies but ah, good friends, good! That's Cinderelly. She's great!" the mouse said in a quick sentence, gesturing to the pretty woman. Sora gave an awkward smile and waved at her while Riku gave a nod of greeting.

"Cinderella!" a shrill voice cried out. The woman 'Cinderelly', or really, Cinderella, looked aggravated before smiling sweetly at the three.

"It seems like I have some business to attend to. Jaq, why don't you show them both around?" she suggested as she stood up and brushed off imaginary dust from her dress. "Oh! And be sure to warn them about Lucifer."

"CINDERELLA!" the voice shrieked again in a more frantic manner.

"Coming!" Cinderella yelled before sighing and excusing herself quietly. Sora looked questioningly at Jaq who sighed as well.

"Cinderelly has the worst family," was all he said before taking Sora by the hand and dragging him to a hole in the wall. Riku narrowed his eyes before following.

"Whoa, is this your home?" Sora asked, climbing up the ledge after the mouse. Riku sighed for being lowered to a status of a mouse.

"Jaq-jaq goes wherever he pleases. This hole leads to all the different parts of the house. Very convenient for us!" the mouse explained. Sora's face took on an excited expression as he followed him enthusiastically, hands fumbling onto each rocky surface and eyes bright with glee. Riku's face took on almost the exact opposite. He hated crawling in this dirty hole. Where was the appeal in any of this?

"Sora, why are we crawling in this dirty hole?" Riku voiced out loud. Sora turned back if only for a second before resuming his climbing. Riku, annoyed that he was ignored, sighed loudly, making his irritation heard.

"Because this is how mice travel," Sora finally answered with a 'duh' tone. His worn out friend from behind him rolled his eyes. Usually Riku was the fit one out of the two but that was when Riku was motivated to work out. This wasn't one of those exercises he would see himself doing.

"Friends help Jaq-jaq and Jaq-jaq help friends," the mouse said as they reached the top. Sora smiled brightly as Riku dusted off all the dirt that collected on his clothes.

"What do you want us to do?"

The mouse, instead of speaking, pointed to a small hole in the wall. Sora, not getting why he was pointing there, was pulled down by the mouse and finally got the hint. The brunet slowly placed his eye on the hole and peeked through.

It just seemed like an ordinary room, just with more expensive taste than the average person. Sora caught sight of a woman in a green dress sitting at her dresser, putting on some make-up, he presumed. The brunet didn't get why Jaq needed him to see this.

"Drizellaaaaaa!" Sora flinched at the loud shrill voice. Another woman busted into the room, all adorned in pink. "Have you seen my pink ribbon?"

"No Anastasia! Now get out of my room," the girl grunted, scrunching her nose. Sora was an all around nice guy but even he couldn't believe how unattractive they were. He could see the good in people even if they weren't the prettiest around but these two didn't seem like they had a nice bone in their body at all.

"Ah see, see. Terrible to Cinderelly," Jaq said, shaking his head and sighing sadly. Sora frowned too. He wouldn't be able to live with these two even for a day. Jaq's tap on his shoulder brought him back. The mouse did the 'shh' gesture as he pointed to the ribbons and jewelry on the floor in the center of the messy room. "We need to get those for dress!"

Sora saw the pink ribbon the girl before was looking for. The girl in green was probably too lazy to even bother looking for it.

"What dress?" Sora jumped a bit and looked behind him to see Riku looking more grumpy than usual.

"Oh Riku. I almost forgot you were here," Sora said, laughing a bit embarrassingly. Riku didn't look amused at all and flicked Sora on the back of his head to show his irritation.

"Ouch! Sorry!" Sora exclaimed.

"My friends and Jaq-Jaq fix dress for Cinderelly! She has to have the pretty pretty dress for the ball," the mouse said dragging their attention back to him. "We need more stuff! Sora and Riku, get ribbons. Jaq-jaq take the necklacey. Go! Quickly!"

The stepsister had just left the room. Sora grabbed Riku's arm and jumped out from the hole, landing smoothly on the floor. Riku stumbled a bit and glared at Sora who gave him a cheeky grin.

"Sora! Warning! Watch out for Lucifer!" Jaq hissed to them before going off to find the necklace. Sora looked at Riku confused.

"Who's Lucifer?"

Riku's eyes widened as he slowly lifted a finger. Sora turned to see where he was pointing to, almost squeaking in surprise. A huge black and white cat was sleeping right on the couch. Sora could feel his heartbeat quickening its pace. He never did get along with cats. Dogs were fine; they were friendly…but cats. Sora shivered. He didn't have much luck with them. Riku's nudge snapped him back to his mission.

"Alright, quietly," he whispered as he crawled on his hands and knees. Riku almost laughed at how silly his friend looked but he copied him a few seconds after. Sora grabbed the awfully long ribbon and started to pull. Riku quickly grabbed the end and both teens ran for it.

"Wow, that was pretty easy," Sora said to his friend as they both ran towards the table they had jumped from. "Uh-oh. How do we get back up?"

Riku had a thoughtful look on his face before spotting something from the corner of his eye.

"I got it. Stay here," he said as he quickly rushed off somewhere. The silver-haired teen quickly ran to a stack of books. If they could get enough of them, they could reach the table but then that would take too much time, time they couldn't afford. He glanced around the room and his face brightened at a big cardboard box. It would be easy to lift and quick to bring it to the table. He quickly ran to it but not before he noticed something was missing. Furtive green eyes checked the couch to see Lucifer not sleeping on it like he originally was.

"Shit, shit, shit," Riku cursed. "Please not Sora, please not Sora, please not…Sora! Look out!"

The brunet scrambled away just in time but tripped clumsily afterwards. Riku face-palmed but quickly dashed to where the cat was swiping at his friend.

Jaq had also returned and was trying to distract the cat by throwing random objects at it but its attention was focused fully on Sora, who was trying to dodge its paws by scuffling backwards.

Riku quickly jumped off the platform, forgetting his mission to get the cardboard boxes, and would've landed smoothly if his foot wasn't angled weird.

"Shit," he cursed as the pain in his ankle was obvious. He ran slash wobbled to the cat, keyblade forming in his hand. He found it easier to summon now.

"Hey, cat! Dogs are way better!" the teen yelled. It was the first thing he thought of and the cat seemed to understand as it diverted his attention to him. Sora gave him a look of concern but Riku quickly signaled him to get the ribbon to Jaq. Sora got it quickly and quickly, with the help of Jaq, was able to get into the hole.

"Wait, I can't just leave Riku," Sora said as Jaq attempted to get them out of sight. The keyblade quickly appeared in his hand and with a quick smile to the mouse, he jumped back down from the hole. Riku widened his eyes as Sora ran up to him.

"Need help?" he asked with a cheeky grin as they both took defensive stances against the huge cat.

The two boys jumped quickly from side to side to confuse the cat. Sora quickly jumped up and grabbed onto the cat's fur, then proceeded to pull himself up and onto its back.

"Reowww!" the cat screeched, obviously not pleased. Sora gripped on tightly but found it hard when the cat was bouncing everywhere.

"Sora! Hold on!" Sora mentally rolled his eyes. What else could he do? He didn't even know why he jumped on this crazy cat in the first place. But that thought vanished as he suddenly remembered.

"Hey kitty, let's do some tricks," he said as he tugged hard on one of the furs near the cat's ears. The cat yowled angrily as it thrashed. Riku was running around the paws, trying to not get stomped.

"Riku, the string!" Sora yelled. His friend got the message as he grabbed the strings and started running around the cat's paws. The cat, in its confusion of tugging and thrashing, stumbled over its one paws and the string, falling and crashing into the wall. Lucifer meowed pathetically as he laid there in pain.

Unfortunately, the cat wasn't the only one in pain.

"Sora!" Riku quickly ran towards the disheveled cat and couldn't find his friend anywhere. "Sora!"

He yelled more frantically a couple more times before he saw the cat's paw twitch. The keyblade appearing in his head once more, he took a defensive stance, wondering if the cat really recovered that quickly.

"You know, if you spend that much time screaming my name instead of actually looking for me, I'm a bit concerned," Sora said, with a wince, as he crawled out from underneath the cat's paw with a weak, teasing smile.

"Sora!" Riku ran forwards and tackled his friend in a hug. "I thought you were a goner."

"You think I died from a lousy cat?" Sora asked, offended.

"I thought you were both goners!" a voice sounded. Riku removed his face from Sora's shoulder to see Jaq jumping up and down from the higher platform. "You defeat Lucifer easy! Jaq-jaq and Gus impressed!"

"Gus?" Sora looked up to see a fat mouse came out from hiding behind Jaq and gave a shy wave. Soon a whole clutter of mice came out to look down on them, all cheering and hollering. Sora gave a triumphant smile as he waved back. Riku was just appalled to see so many mice residing in this mansion.

"Hm…shouldn't we have gotten a clue or something by now?" Sora asked, looking around. They defeated the cat right? Riku looked around. The cat had run away and there was no clue in sight.

"Maybe the cat wasn't it. Maybe there's something else we have to fight," Riku said.

"Yeah it wouldn't be right if we left anyway," Sora said as he followed Jaq through the hole again. Riku sighed as he left daylight again.

_It's that time of year again_

_Leave all our hopelessness's aside_

_If just for a little while_

His mind nearly exploded as they finally made it to Cinderella's room. Birds were flying about with ribbons and string. Mice were scurrying all over the floor with scissors and jewelry. Ribbons and string gliding through the floor. All for this one dress. This was unbelievable. He heard a joyous sound of laughter beside him and couldn't help but give a wide smile at the look on Sora's face.

The brunet quickly ran forward to one of the mice to help. Riku chuckled as Sora nearly lost his balance while holding the roll of yarn. He leaned forward and helped him carry it near the dress and then the rest was taken care of by the small animals.

"Wow, Riku can you believe this?" Sora asked. "My chores would get done so much quicker if I had a few of these friends."

Riku raised an eyebrow at that and looked at his friend with a teasing smile. "Oh and am I not enough help?" Sora snorted as he playfully bumped Riku's shoulder.

"Of course, I would never be able to live without you!" Sora said, mockingly dramatic. Riku rolled his eyes and shoved Sora's head lightly with a knuckle.

"The dress is almost complete!" a female mouse squeaked. All the small animals around them cheered as the finishing ribbon was sewed on. Sora opened his mouth in amazement.

"Wow…it looks great," he whispered. The pink dress looked perfectly suitable for a princess. The animals all congratulated each other on the hard work. Riku spotted Jaq running up to them.

"Thanks to friends, we were able to complete! Thank So-So and Ri-Ri!" Jaq said, shaking both their hands enthusiastically.

"No problem, we were glad to help! Even though we didn't help with the actual dress that much…" Sora said with an apologetic grin and a hand behind his head. Jaq shook his hands almost frantically.

"You defeated Lucifer! That's more than the help I asked!" Animal after animal soon was lining up to thank the two. Sora took their thanks bashfully while Riku was mainly indifferent. He felt the thanks were not needed, though appreciated.

"Anyway, we should get going soon. We have to find our link out of this world and I don't think it's here," Riku said, tugging on Sora's sleeve.

"B-but we didn't get to see Cinderella's reaction yet," Sora said with a small, disappointed pout. Riku felt bad that he was taking Sora away as he seemed to be enjoying himself but he didn't feel like they had time to stick around.

"No, we have to go, Sora. Come on, don't you want to get home?" he asked, albeit a bit more harshly than he had intended. Sora flinched but didn't answer. Riku sighed and put a hand on the disheartened boy's shoulder. "I'm sorry…it's just that I feel like we won't ever see our island again. Doesn't that kind of scare you?"

Sora nodded meekly. Riku gave him a smile.

"I'm sure we'll be able to visit everybody again," Riku said with a forced smile as he faced all the creatures looking at the two with concern. He looked back at Sora who faced him with an unconvinced expression. The brunet looked away from his gaze and turned to everyone.

"Yeah, we'll visit again real soon! We have to go now, sorry guys," Sora said, waving bye to everyone. All the mice and birds squeaked and chirped their farewells as Riku led Sora out of the place. He wasn't even sure where he was going and it would've been smarter to have asked Jaq to lead them out but Riku really didn't want to stay this small for long. He had to give a bit of credit to the little guys. How did they get anything done?

He held out his hand for Sora to grab on as they lifted themselves out of the hole.

"Now what?" Sora asked while brushing the dirt off his pants. Riku looked around the huge mansion.

"Hm…not sure. Maybe there isn't anything to fight in this world," Riku said with a bit of hope in his voice.

"But if we don't have to fight anything, then how do we leave?" Sora asked, voice laced with worry. The more composed male gave Sora a reassuring smile.

"We'll figure out a way. And besides it won't be the end of the world. It's not like we're going to die if we don't make it out," Riku said, ruffling the brunet's spiky hair. Sora frowned.

"Weren't you the one who wanted to get home?" Sora asked. Riku sat down on the edge of ledge and shrugged indifferently.

"Doesn't matter where I am if I'm with you, I guess," he replied, refusing to meet Sora's curious eyes. Sora's face turned red as he tried thinking of a response but found he couldn't compose one. Riku didn't seem like he was looking for one anyway.

"Let's go look around," Sora said with a bright smile, the mood instantly brightening. Riku laughed as Sora tugged on his hand impatiently, but got up.

_Tears stop right here_

_I know we've all had a bumpy ride_

_I'm secretly on your side_

Riku had figured their size would be an advantage seeing as no one could spot them both scurrying around the mansion. However, their size was also a handicap. They had to make sure their jumps off the table wouldn't break their legs and couldn't go up staircases since it would take them at least an hour when it would normally take them less than five minutes if they were normal size. Second, the mansion was huge so they had gotten lost more times than they could count.

Fortunately, they always made it back to where they had first started.

"Whew, who knew exploring would take so much time and energy out on you," Sora said, leaning back onto the marble floor. Riku chuckled and placed a hand on Sora's stomach. The brunet smiled at being swayed side to side and jabbed a finger to Riku's stomach in response.

Suddenly Sora shot up as they both heard the sounds of sobbing. Riku glanced around and tapped Sora's shoulder to show the brunet the source of the noise.

Cinderella ran down the hallway, in tears. But that wasn't the thing that had caught their attention. Sora's eyes narrowed in anger at the sight of the beautiful pink dress that everyone had worked so hard on, in rags.

"Let's go," Riku said as he pulled Sora up to his feet. They quickly ran outside the mansion in the direction Cinderella ran to.

"Where did she go?" Sora listened closely to any sounds and was surprised to hear someone talking. It was nighttime. Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters were probably already on their way to the ball, so who else would be talking here?

Riku made a 'shh' gesture as he pointed to the garden. They both ran towards there and hid behind the bushes, although their mere size would've been camouflage enough.

There was a small old lady wearing a light-blue hooded dress and Cinderella talking to her. Jaq and the other mice were also hiding like them in the grass, but in a much closer range.

"Who's she?" Sora asked. Riku gave Sora a 'how should I know?' look before returning his attention to them both.

Suddenly, both pairs of eyes widened at the glow enveloping Cinderella's entire body. The old woman was waving to what seemed to be a wand.

"She's using her evil sorceress powers to destroy Cinderella! We have to help!" Sora yelled before running towards the scene. Riku let out a noise of protest but Sora was already running halfway there. With a hand outstretched at his friend, and the other clutching his hair in frustration, Riku had no choice but to follow Sora.

The brunet had stopped his running, causing Riku to almost crash into the smaller form.

"Why'd you stop?" Sora merely pointed at what was in front of them. Cinderella, previously in the pink rags that used to be a dress, was decked in a beautiful, seemingly glowing, pure white gown. Her golden blonde hair was tied up in a nice bun with a white headband to complete the look.

"Wow," Sora whispered. Riku glanced sideways and frowned at the awed look on Sora's face. He nudged him a bit harshly to snap him out of it. The mice were suddenly turned into horses and the pumpkin turned suddenly into a carriage. Sora's eyes were now widened in fear.

"You two there!" Sora and Riku looked to see that woman in the blue robe come closer to them.

"Run!" Sora yelled as he dove into the long grass. Riku followed right after.

"Why are we running?" Riku asked as he slowed down to a stop. Sora looked at him as if he was completely insane.

"Did you not see that! She's going to turn us into horses!" Sora exclaimed, arms waving around frantically. Riku walked forward to him and placed two hands on his shoulders to calm him down.

"But…we're human. So couldn't she just turn us back into normal size?" Riku asked. Sora's hands were still held in mid-air. He slowly lowered them and his eyes face scrunched up in thought.

"Or that." Riku smiled and rolled his eyes exaggeratingly. Sora gave him a shove and told him he wasn't going to apologize for freaking out since he had every right to.

"Yeah I guess it's not every day you see mice turning into horses," Riku agreed as they made their way back.

"But what if she doesn't turn us back into normal size?" Sora asked, worry laced in his words.

"She seemed nice enough. I mean she made all that for Cinderella. If she wasn't upset by her friends being turned into other species, why should we? I'm sure they'll turn back anyway."

"Sora, Riku!" Cinderella said when they made their way back.

"Sorry we ran off," Sora muttered, face red. She smiled and shook her head.

"It's fine. I understand why you would've. It's okay, the spell will be broken eventually." The old woman stepped forward and looked down at them with a kind smile. "This is my Fairy Godmother."

"Hello dearies. Sorry I frightened you with my magic," she chuckled. Sora blushed in embarrassment for getting scared of such a kind, old woman.

"Um…would you be as kind as to turn as back into normal size?" Sora asked. Riku raised an eyebrow at how polite and formal Sora spoke.

"Why of course. That was my intention in the first place," she said and with a wave of her magic wand and a few nonsensical words that sounded like 'bippity boppity boo', Sora and Riku found themselves spiraling down and burst out. The multi-colored sparks disappeared and Sora and Riku found themselves their original size again.

"Riku! You're taller than me again!" Sora yelled ecstatically, jumping up and down. Riku was busy dusting off the dirt from his clothes.

"Sora, I was still taller than you when we shrunk," Riku replied without even looking up.

"Thank you so much, Fairy Godmother!" Sora said, smiling happily and shaking the old woman's hands.

"Oh no problem. I was glad to help. Although it would be nice if you could accompany Cinderella to the ball."

"Ohh…can I drive?" Sora asked, looking at the carriage. He gave a pleading look to both Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother who both laughed at his eager look and gave him the 'go ahead' signal. Sora didn't need anything else as he shot forward and sat down, holding onto the horse reigns.

"Riku, would you be so kind as to be Cinderella's footman?" the old woman asked. Riku resisted the urge to groan but he couldn't resist the small smile that went on his face when he saw how excited Sora was.

"Ah, your clothes won't do. Here," and with another flick of her wand, Sora acquired a new gray tailcoat, black dress shoes, a white dress shirt with a light blue bowtie, a dark brownish gray waistcoat, and lastly, sitting on his head, a slightly large gray top hat. Sora laughed gleefully as he pulled back the top hat that was falling over his eyes to look at his best friend. Riku looked less excited about his new attire. He was now dressed in a black tailcoat, a white dress shirt, a gray tie under his black waistcoat.

"Whoa, Riku! You look amazing!" Sora said, eyes widening in admiration. Riku's cheeks were dusted pink at that compliment. He coughed to cover it up.

"Yes, you both look very dashing," Fairy Godmother said, pleased with her own handiwork. "Be sure to bring Cinderella back by midnight or else the spell will wear off." Riku's eyes shifted as he hesitantly held out a hand to Cinderella.

"Off to the castle?" Riku offered. Cinderella giggled before gratefully taking his hand and stepping foot in the carriage.

"Thank you so much, Fairy Godmother!" she waved as Sora yelled an 'off to the castle!' and the carriage set off.

"Have fun, dearies!" she said before slowly fading away, leaving behind fairy dust.

_How did you know?_

_It's what I always wanted_

_Could never have had too many of this_

"Woohoo!" Sora exclaimed, whipping the reigns harder. Riku was trying hard to hold onto the end of the carriage.

"Sora!" Riku quickly ducked to dodge a tree branch. "Slow down, will ya?"

"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Cinderella didn't seem bothered as she was just excited to go to finally be able to attend the ball.

Riku nearly sang hallelujah as they neared the castle. Sora's eyes glazed over as he took in the whole sight.

"It's beautiful," he whispered, finally pulling the horses to a stop. Riku quickly jumped off the carriage and was glad he had a strong stomach or else he would've been keeling over and puking all over the ground. When he finally caught his breath, he threw a quick glare at Sora who just gave an apologetic smile and a shrug.

Riku walked over to the door and held it open for the former maid. She stepped out and bowed to them both graciously.

"Thank you two so much for all of this," she said giving them both kisses on the cheeks.

"No problem! Have a great time, Cinderella!" Sora said, arms raised and swinging side to side in a wave as she walked towards the back entrance.

"But be sure to be back by midnight!" Riku yelled as a warning.

"You're such a buzz kill," Sora teased. "Now let's have fun of our own!" Grabbing Riku's hand, Sora ran towards one of the entrances.

"We're not supposed to be here though! The invite was only for women," Riku protested, trying to take his hand out of Sora's before he started getting all nervous and sweaty.

"What, who said?" Sora asked. Riku held out the invite that Cinderella left in the carriage.

"It says that the prince is looking for a wife and that all young females are invited so he may find one suitable."

"Well with all the pretty women there, he won't have the time to even bother looking at us!" Sora said. Riku sighed at Sora's stubbornness but allowed himself to be pulled into the castle. There were indeed a lot of women. Sora was glad the fairy godmother had given them new clothes so they fit right in.

"There are men, Riku."

"They're probably from the upper classes. I don't think we should be here," Riku muttered. Sora spotted the stepsisters and their mother amongst the hoards of women.

"Let loose once in a while. Since when did you care who was in which status?" Sora said taking a plate of food and immediately eating. "Want some?"

"Not hungry. It's too loud in here," Riku grumbled.

"I gotcha," Sora said with a bright smile as he dropped the plate back onto the table and dragged Riku elsewhere. The brunet didn't seem to know where he was going but was just focused on dodging the hundreds of guests until he found an opening out.

_Lie down  
>Deep breaths<br>Count to ten  
>Nod your head<em>

"This place seems quiet." The first thing that caught both boys' sights was the moonlight that shined down on a clear water fountain. It seemed to be a garden. Sora and Riku sat down near the fountain. "Wonder why no one else is here."

"Cause they're all in there, kissing the Prince's ass," Riku chuckled. Sora scrunched his nose at that analogy and laughed along. They both just sat in the comfortable silence save for the crickets. Riku and Sora decided to relocate themselves and fell onto their backs onto the soft grass, careful to not squash any of the blooming flowers.

"This brings back memories doesn't it?" Sora asked.

"Yeah," Riku breathed out. Memories of two younger versions of Sora and Riku, laughing as they chased each other across the warm beaches in the night before flopping down on the soft sand, side by side, to gaze at the dark expanse of the night sky save for the endless amount of stars spread throughout. They had since long stopped that.

"Do you think the stars here are different than back at the islands?" Sora asked as he took off his top hat. Riku turned his head sideways to stare at his face. Sora turned at the same time and gave a shy smile. "Sorry, that was probably a stupid question."

"It wasn't," Riku said quickly. He turned back to look at the sky. "I think they're the same so if someone back at home, like Kairi, or our parents, is staring up at the night sky, then we would be looking at the same stars."

"I wonder if we're even in the same time zone. This all feels unreal doesn't it?"

Riku hummed in agreement. The brunet got up after a few more minutes of stargazing as he sat by the fountain again. Riku didn't hesitate to follow.

Sora dipped a finger in the water and marveled at how the water glistened under the moonlight. He giggled as a goldfish nibbled lightly on his finger. Riku shook his head and smiled. How would one teenage boy be so full of pureness and innocence? The moonlight was shining on Sora just right and he did 'look very dashing' in formal clothing. Sora turned his head to look at Riku and was taken aback at how intently his friend was staring at him.

"Sorry, is there something on my face?" Sora asked, self-consciously wiping his cheeks. Riku himself was taken aback too but by how Sora's sapphire eyes just seemed to glow during nighttime.

"Yeah," Riku muttered, reaching out a hand to wipe Sora's cheek. In reality, there wasn't actually anything on his face but there are few moments where Riku could touch Sora without him suspecting anything.

"Thanks," Sora said with a grateful smile. Riku didn't remove his hand to which Sora gave a questioning look as to why.

"Sora…" Riku whispered. The brunet had shivers running down his spine at the way his name was spoken through Riku's lips, as he looked Riku in the eyes.

"Y-yeah?" he stuttered, eyes glancing at Riku's eyes, nose, and then lips.

"I…"

"Please don't leave!"

"I'm sorry!"

Riku and Sora sprang apart at the sounds of the new voices. Both avoided the other's gaze in embarrassment to see Cinderella leaving the bridge and the Prince calling after her.

"Shoot, is it already midnight?" Riku asked. Fingers speedily interlaced sloppily against Sora's as they both quickly ran towards where the carriage was, swerving through all the merry people who had no idea what was going on.

They both made it to the carriage just as Cinderella was running down the steps. Sora jumped on and grabbed the reins, quickly gesturing to Cinderella to hurry. Riku opened the door letting Cinderella hop in.

"Stop her!" they could all hear. The horses started to pull and the carriage raced away.

Halfway home, however, the carriage started to shake. Sora and Riku's clothes turned back to their old ones from the island and the horses turned back into mice. The carriage became its small pumpkin form again.

The prince's guards were still trailing them. Sora pulled Cinderella to her feet and ran into the nearby forest, Riku and the mice following closely behind. As the sounds of the galloping horses' hooves sounded farther and farther away, Sora let out a sigh of relief.

"That was close." Cinderella, although back into her old rags, had a content smile spread across her face. Her eyes were twinkling as she held out the last remaining part of her outfit; a single glass slipper.

* * *

><p><em>Get me outta here<em>  
><em>Get me outta here<em>  
><em>Get me outta here<em>  
><em>Just for love<em>  
><em>Just for love.<em>

* * *

><p>Ruby Warrior Girl 730: And you guessed correctly! I should make the previews more challenging to guess xD Wow I can't believe I didn't update since Halloween...<p>

Whimsical Dreamer: Yeah right! I was just listening to all of the Pocahontas songs the other day. Huuge nostalgia blast haha.

Alcorion: I think I would've enjoyed a Pocahontas world a lot more than Deep Jungle. I love Tarzan and all but Deep Jungle was such a pain with all the vines.

Thank you guys for reviewing(: And for anyone who even bothers to read it, story alert it, and favorite it!


End file.
